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