I saw this coming, so it's no surprise. The writing has been on the wall for a while now.
FIFA just had no interest in coming to the US. They just weren't interested in what we were selling. FIFA wants to take the World Cup to places they've never gone before. More importantly (and just like the International Olympic Committee), they want countries that will give them the biggest sweetheart deal ever imagined. They want tax exemptions and exclusive (ie, anti-competitive) marketing agreements. It's no coincidence that all the countries winning the rights to host the tournament are 2nd/3rd world countries (South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Qatar) while countries that are getting the cold shoulder are the free market and advanced economic countries like USA, Australia, Japan, Korea, England, Spain, Netherlands, etc. Those countries wouldn't let FIFA walk all over them like they did to South Africa last summer and will surely do to the next three hosts.
The problem I have with Qatar winning the World Cup 2022 is its size. They get a guaranteed spot in the tournament as host, they would be far and away the WORST TEAM EVER to participate. It's the equivalent of giving Florida International a guaranteed BCS bowl birth because their home city is a host sight of a BCS bowl. It robs a deserving team of a spot in the tournament. Also, a World Cup is basically the equivalent of having three Super Bowls a day for two weeks straight, two a day for the next week, and one a day for the next two weeks. The entire country of Qatar is the size of Connecticut, you're asking them to put the entire tournament in that small an area. It's a logistical nightmare. It's a technologically advanced, world class city, but they do not have the size to put this tournament on.
Either the US or Australia should've won this bid.
