Did Major League Soccer Hurt America’s Chance of Hosting 2022 World Cup?

Ever since FIFA awarded Qatar the right to host the 2022 World Cup, the nation has made the inevitable leap from grief to pointing the finger and creating United States Soccer Federation guilt by association.Soccer purists have seen this as a golden opportunity to, once again, point out the flaws of Major League Soccer, claiming it could have even ruined the United States' chance to bring the World Cup back across the Atlantic.Breaking it down, the only eminent flaws with American soccer (that FIFA has pointed out) have been the ways MLS is structured and how it consistently refuses to abide to FIFA's guidelines. Though MLS takes a conservative approach in keeping everyone financially stable and maintaining parity, it is likely that type of organization has caused passive-aggressive action from FIFA. Simply, FIFA is telling the USSF to abide by their rules, which is met by collective unwillingness from the MLS and USSF.Certain comments include the season's format. The league does not abide to the FIFA calendar and runs from March to November. That is understandable since the MLS has just Major League Baseball as its sole competition for fan attention for most of the season, which MLS seems to be doing well ...

United States Supporters: Please Remember the 1994 FIFA World Cup Bid

The negative reaction of Qatar winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid reminds me of when the United States was awarded the '94 FIFA World Cup bid on July 4, 1988. For those of who were alive and can remember, the United States defeated Brazil and Morocco in order to secure the rights to host the World Cup on American soil. In 1988, the United States didn't have a professional soccer league because the North American Soccer League no longer existed. And the last time the national team competed in the World Cup was in Brazil for the 1950 World Cup where they played the game of their lives in order to upset the powerful England national team 1-0. Many in the media criticized FIFA for awarding the World Cup to a nation where soccer wasn't even popular amongst Americans. When FIFA awarded the United States the '94 World Cup, the argument made by the U.S. organizers was that the World Cup belongs to the world and every nation should be given the opportunity to host one. They also convinced FIFA that the United States was an untapped soccer resource that will generate millions and millions of dollars while establishing fresh, ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs (Dec. 4, 2010)

Kirovski and Kovalenko to Re-Entry DraftOn Friday, the Los Angeles Galaxy chose not to renew the contracts of midfielders Jovan Kirovski and Dema Kovalenko. As a result, both players are now eligible for the Stage 1 Draft of the MLS Re-Entry Process, which takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 2:00 p.m. ET.The Stage 2 Draft will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 2:00 p.m. ET, also via teleconference. Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts will be conducted in the same order as the traditional Waiver Draft, with Vancouver selecting 17th and Portland selecting 18th. The Galaxy will have the 14th selection in both Stages of the Re-Entry Process.Jovan Kirovski is in his second stint with the Galaxy, having originally played for the club from 2004-2005. He re-joined the club in November 2008 and appeared in 43 regular season games over the last two seasons, scoring six goals and adding three assists. A native of Escondido, Calif., the 34-year-old midfielder finished third on the Galaxy this season with four goals, two of which came in the 4-1 win over the Houston Dynamo on June 5. Kirovski's first goal on that day was scored just 47 seconds into the game, ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, Dec. 3, 2010

Sunil Gulati faces the music after USA 2022 loses to Qatar14 votes to eight. In favor of the sheiks from Qatar.That's the margin the USA lost to in their bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After the fourth and final vote, and in spite of a spirit campaign that involved the Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan, Sunil Gulati was forced to to put on a brave face in what will go down as the biggest black eye of his tenure as US Soccer Federation president."We're disappointed," he said at the Messe Zürich. "There's no way to get around that. It's a very harsh disappointment. We worked very hard. The country's been behind us in a way frankly we haven't seen."I always viewed this as a huge pedal, and a World Cup hosted in the US would give us a foot down on that pedal and take us to a new trend line. So obviously, we're not going to have that. "Will that trend line still be positive? Yes. Will we still get to all of us, where Don [Garber], where I and others want to get? The answer is yes. It's going to take longer. It's going to be harder. This ...

United States Bidding Committee: The 2022 FIFA World Cup

In less than 12 hours, millions and millions of soccer fans worldwide will be glued to their televisions anxiously waiting to find out which countries will host the 2018 & 2022 FIFA World Cup. Throughout the United States millions of soccer fans will congregate to their local establishments and their Major League Soccer team’s host party in hopes that the United States beats out Qatar, Australia, South Korea and Japan for the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. With U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati, President Bill Clinton, actor Morgan Freeman and United States standout player Landon Donovan making their final presentation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, millions worldwide will now have to wait for the voting results. "We are pleased we had this final opportunity to make our case to the FIFA Executive Committee and I'm extremely appreciative of the special efforts of President Clinton, Morgan Freeman and Landon Donovan in helping us make that case. We look forward to a decision tomorrow,” expressed Sunil Gulati. The voting will take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Thursday, Dec. 2, and the process will be ...