Fifa, soccer's international governing body, has awarded the 2018 football World Cup to Russia and 2022's to the tiny middle-eastern state of Qatar.
Russia, described by the LA Times as "particularly ill-prepared to stage" the massive event, beat out a bid from rich, safe England, which is full of brand-new Olympic venues. And tourist-flogging Qatar, where alcohol is banned and air conditioned stadiums will have to be built, won over the U.S.
England's bid slipped out of favor after the BBC televised a perfectly timed corruption investigation into Fifa. Fifa is incredibly, spectacularly corrupt. So much so that the bid organizers' anger at the show's timing seemed almost reasonable: England having paid $15M to submerge itself into the proverbial hot tub, to suddenly point out the smell right before the moment of climax does seem a little mischievous. Russia will probably do fine, though, now they have it.
As for 2022, you could say that it seems the only people who know why Qatar got the competition are those who have been on junkets to Qatar.
