https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Common-pitch-for-U-S-Russia-12992609.php
Common pitch for U.S., Russia
Putin endorses bid by North America to host 2026 event
Published 10:10 pm, Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Moscow
The United States was able to celebrate a World Cup victory in Russia after all. Thanks to assistance from the host nation at a FIFA Congress addressed by President Vladimir Putin.
For all the geopolitical tensions between the superpowers, Russia had no qualms about pressing the electronic keypads to select the joint bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico over Morocco in the 2026 World Cup hosting vote in Moscow on Wednesday.
"Football is separate from politics," said Alexander Alayev, acting president of the Russian football federation. "Morocco prepared a very strong and interesting bid, but the unified bid was much stronger in all aspects."
Maybe, finally, some sports officials made decisions based on existing merits and what is best for the game, rather than following political agendas.
"This should not be about geopolitics," U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro said. "This was not a vote in the United Nations."
The U.S. may have hoped for a vote from North Korea after the rapprochement between the nations during an extraordinary summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. North Korea instead opted for the Moroccan proposals that were dismissed by FIFA inspectors as high-risk in three areas and overwhelmingly rejected by the soccer world.
Morocco wasn't even able to harness unanimous support from Africa, with 11 federations voting against their continental counterpart.
Despite his country voting for Morocco, Cameroon federation official Kevin Njomo accepted the World Cup would be "more profitable in America."
Morocco also didn't get full support from other Muslim-majority nations, with Afghanistan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia among the 134 backers of the North American bid.
Where Morocco needed to spend billions of dollars building or renovating all 14 proposed stadiums, North America could host the World Cup almost immediately if needed.
Ultimately, Morocco's record on human rights and lack of protections for the LGBT community, which were criticized by FIFA, might have helped to swing the decision.
"We tried to make the case of what's best for FIFA," Cordeiro said.
