Five things Russia and Qatar did right to win World Cup bids

Russia and Qatar were able to set themselves apart enough from the rest of the World Cup bidders to get FIFA’s vote Thursday. Russia will host the tournament in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Here are five things they did right.

Make FIFA money

Anja Niedringhaus/AP
FIFA President Joseph Blatter gestures before announcing Russia as the host country for the 2018 soccer World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 2.

Feel-good stories aside, FIFA, like everyone else, needs money. The biggest and most efficient way for them to do so is through television broadcasts of the matches.

Qatar, right between Europe and Asia, also appealed to FIFA’s need for television ratings, making the case that its time zone puts it in striking range of about 3 billion viewers.

The cities hosting Russia’s World Cup are primarily in the Western part of the country, making them longitudinally similar to Qatar, and allowing the rest of Europe to watch matches at a reasonable hour, as well as Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

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