In 1994, U.S. Will Have World Cup in Its Hands
The World Cup, soccer’s most prestigious tournament and arguably the world’s most popular sporting event, will come to the United States for the first time in 1994.
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) won the bid Monday by receiving 10 of the 19 votes cast in secret balloting by the Federation Internationale de Football Assn. (FIFA) executive committee. Morocco received seven votes and Brazil two.
The USSF has identified 18 stadiums, including the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, in 16 cities that it will consider as sites for World Cup matches. From those, 12 will be selected.
To avoid the appearance of partiality at the meeting, FIFA President Joao Havelange of Brazil requested that Harry H. Cavan, senior vice president from Northern Ireland, chair the session held at a hotel in a suburb of Zurich. Havelange and another Brazilian member of the executive committee, Abilio d’Almeida, did not vote.
Awarding the World Cup to a country that does not even use the sport’s proper name is an indication of FIFA’s desire to see its version of football become as popular in the United States as it is in virtually every other part of the world.
“This morning, the delegation from the United States used the word football (in its presentation before the executive committee),” Cavan said. “I was quite happy about that because I have been trying to get them for years to do it.”
But the decision was met with skepticism by some delegates of countries where the word football does not conjure images of helmets, shoulder pads and marching bands.
“Taking the World Cup to the United States is like taking the World Series to Brazil,” said Guimarez Octavio Pinto, president of the Brazilian Soccer Assn. “That would never happen.”
If the comparison is inappropriate, it is only because the World Cup is so much larger than the World Series. In some countries, the World Cup is considered even larger than the Olympics.
Of 158 FIFA members, 114 are involved in qualifying to be among the 24 teams that will play in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The 24 finalists play 52 matches over a four-week period, usually in early summer, to determine a champion.
The 1986 World Cup in Mexico drew a record 2.5 million spectators and a television audience of 12.8 billion, including 600 million in 161 countries for Argentina’s victory over West Germany in the final.
Sites for the 1994 semifinals and finals will probably not be determined for at least two years, but USSF President Werner Fricker said he believes the leading candidates will be the Rose Bowl, Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Fricker said the World Cup will probably be played in the last week of June and the first three weeks of July.
“The World Cup will give us the kick-start that we’ve needed for so long to popularize the sport in the United States,” said Paul Stiehl, USSF treasurer and president of the bid committee. “We’ve been at a limbo-like stage.
“It would have taken generations, 30 or 40 years, for the sport to reach the level where we believe it should be in the United States. The World Cup will enable that to happen much sooner.”
Stiehl said the ultimate goal is to produce a national team that eventually will become competitive at an international level. The United States, which joined FIFA in 1913, entered the first World Cup in 1930 but has qualified only twice since, most recently in 1950.
With that in mind, Stiehl said the USSF will encourage the formation of a new national professional league, perhaps combining teams from the four semi-pro outdoor leagues in existence, that could start play as early as next year.
One of those leagues, the Western Soccer Alliance, includes three teams from Southern California. Stiehl said the teams would have the additional responsibility of forming junior teams and aiding in the development of talent.
“This opportunity will not come our way again,” Stiehl said. “We have six years to build the sport in the United States. We will use that time to build a credible national team and organize a strong youth program.
“It’s only a matter of time before we arrive on an international level. It may take 10 or 15 years. But when we do, it will be an interesting scenario.”
This was the second time the United States bid for the World Cup. It lost to Mexico in a bid for the 1986 tournament. The USSF began preparing for this bid 15 months ago, hiring Eddie Mahe Jr. and Associates, a Washington political consulting firm, to conduct its campaign.
When FIFA changed the date of the vote from June 30 to July 4, there was media speculation in Europe that the United States had already been selected. Havelange denied that Monday, saying that the change was made not to celebrate U.S. Independence Day but because of the amount of business FIFA had to conduct before the vote.
Actually, the vote was closer than expected because of Morocco’s support from African and Asian representatives, who would like to see the lock on the World Cup by Europe and the Americas broken. European or Latin American countries have been hosts of the previous 13 World Cups.
“It’s time to break the alternation between the Americas and Europe and to support the candidacy of a Third World country,” said Abdelattif Semlali, Morocco’s minister of sport, before the vote. “It’s up to FIFA to prove it really is an international organization.”
Brazil, site of the 1950 World Cup, was expected to be the United States’ closest challenger, but its hopes faded when it received no support from Havelange, perhaps the most influential of all sports federation presidents. Even former soccer star Pele, a national hero in Brazil, said his country would not be the proper choice because of its economic problems.
“He’s completely correct,” said a member of the Brazilian delegation who asked to remain unidentified. “Brazil does not have the economic conditions to stage the World Cup. The government hasn’t given its support and isn’t particularly interested in having it. But it can’t come right out and say that because the people want it.”
Whether the people in the United States want the World Cup was one of FIFA’s primary concerns. But at least 10 members of the executive committee, most of them believed to be from Europe, apparently decided that the financial potential for soccer in the United States was too great to turn down.
“It’s the only unconquered country in a soccer sense,” said Peter Pullen of the Brazilian Soccer Assn.. “They have great potential economic power. There’s a chance for a lot of people to make a lot of money if the game takes off like they hope it will take off.”
From a more practical standpoint, Havelange said the U.S. bid was impressive because it offered better conditions for the 1994 World Cup, particularly in the areas of modern stadiums, hotels, transportation and communication.
As for whether large crowds can be enticed to attend soccer matches at the height of the baseball season, Fricker, USSF president, said: “The American public is interested in all major sports events. When we told FIFA that we could fill all of our stadiums, we were not joking. We will fill all the stadiums to 80% capacity and probably better.”
Fricker used the example of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, in which soccer drew 1.4 million spectators, more than any other sport.
Other members of the U.S. delegation acknowledged that soccer was a success in 1984 because of its connection with the Olympics and because of the availability of low-priced tickets. But they said they believed the USSF can attract large crowds with an aggressive marketing campaign beginning as soon as possible.
Fricker sounded as if the only thing he wants to do today is relax.
“My first feeling is one of relief,” he said. “My next feeling is that it’s going to be a monumental task.”
