[spireitematt]

This has been big news over here as well.  The main thoughts over here are the fact that its the US justice system that got these arrests made and got the ones arrested extradited to the US to stand trial.  The US is pissed it missed out on the WC bid to Qatar and they plan to prove the corruption and get that decision overturned.  I will be very ironic if the one major nation in the world that has yet to truly embrace football is the one that acts in a legal manner to try to get FIFA sorted.  For me its a shame there has been no stand by UEFA and the European powerhouse countries to force change, but then maybe UEFA don't want that level of scrutiny either!!

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Matt, Russia should also be stripped of the WC because their human rights is appalling and thier stance on gay rights and other issues should be enough to get the tournament moved.  FIFA has always said the WC was a vehicle to enhance the game in the country and region it is held in, that rings true for Africa and also to a degree with Russia but holds no credibility with Qatar, that alone should have been enough to rule them out.  Both the US and Australia were in the bidding process, both of those markets would put on a brilliant tournament and the level of interest in "soccer" in either countries would be huge.  In both cases football is not the major sport but both offer great potential forr the sport and great facilities and set up already in place!!

Yeah Russia need to have it stripped as well because they are homophobic and another racist country. I would like the 2018 WC to be held in England and the 2022 WC in either Australia or US. Australia have never hosted it before and they should be given a chance to host it. Australia and US are two countries in the World who need more coverage of "soccer" because its not exactly well known and I know some Americans see it as a girls sport and won't embrace it and you could see that from last year and what they were saying about it during the World Cup. The MLS is getting more interest because of top named players like Villa, Lampard, Beckham, Gerrard etc going over to play and the standard of the MLS has improved a lot in the last 10 years and you could tell that it has improved just by watching the US National team in the World Cup. I think it may take a little longer for football or "soccer" to win a lot of Americans over but its well on the way.