FIFA World Cup in Russia and Qatar
The world football organization FIFA has announced that the World Cup will take place in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. The Russians won against Spain-Portugal, Belgium-The Netherlands and favorite England. Qatar beat South Korea, Japan, Australia and the USA. Both countries will host the World Cup for the first time.
FIFA explained that it wants to bring football to new countries and regions. The World Cup has never been hosted in an Eastern European country or in the Middle East.
The decision came at a time when two members of FIFA’s executive committee were suspended after they were accused of selling their votes.
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised that football fans would be allowed to enter without a visa . He hopes that they will get to know Russian culture and enjoy football. The country will spend billions to build new stadiums and infrastructure for the tournament . It will be the second large sporting event within four years. In 2014 Russia will stage the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Qatar will face many problems before the big event starts. For one, the country does not have enough hotels for thousands of tourists who will come to watch the tournament . Another problem is the climate. All stadiums will have to have some sort of air-conditioning because in June and July temperatures can reach 50° C°. Money, however, is no problem for the oil-rich country. Billions will be spent on building new, modern stadiums.
The countries that lost their bids were very disappointed . England’s football star David Beckham and other famous celebrities tried hard to bring the tournament back to its roots . American soccer fans were surprised that FIFA was prepared to award the tournament to such a tiny country like Qatar. The USA was host to a perfectly organized World Cup in 1994. The event made soccer very popular throughout the country.
The World Cup 2010 was held in Africa for the first time. In 2014 Brazil will stage the tournament .
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Words
- accuse = to say that someone has committed a crime or done something against the law
- air conditioning = a system that makes the air cooler
- announce = to say officially
- award = give
- bid = to offer to organize an event
- billion = a thousand million
- celebrity = famous person
- disappointed = sad
- executive committee = the group of people who make the decisions
- face = to solve problems in a difficult situation
- host = place where a big special event is held
- infrastructure = things that a country needs to work, like transportation, banks, roads etc..
- reach = get to
- roots = the place where everything started; birthplace
- soccer = football in America
- stage = hold, organize
- suspend = to stop from doing a job
- tiny = very small
- tournament = a series of games with many teams; they play against each other to find out who the winner is; the World Cup tournament lasts four weeks
- visa = a mark that is put into your passport which allows you to visit a country for a short time