U.S. Loses World Cup 2022 Bid
ZURICH, Switzerland. (
) - D-espite the best efforts of President Clinton, actor Morgan Freeman and L.A. Galaxy star
, the U.S. has lost out to Qatar in its bid to host the 2022 soccer
Clinton, Freeman and Donovan were all in Switzerland to lobby on behalf of the U.S, which was looking to host the World Cup for the second time in 32 years.
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In a shock move, however, oil-rich Qatar was picked by soccer's governing body FIFA, and will become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the world's most popular sporting event. The Gulf state, which is roughly the size of Connecticut, also beat Australia, Japan and South Korea in its bid to host the World Cup.
The U.S. bid committee had estimated that hosting the World Cup could provide a
$5 billion boost to the American economy
, and had forecast record tickets sales of 5 million.
President Obama told reporters in Washington that FIFA made the "wrong decision" not awarding the World Cup to the U.S., according to an
report.
FIFA also announced the host of the 2018 World Cup on Thursday, with Russia beating out England and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium.
--Written by James Rogers in New York.
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