Large parts of the world (i.e. most of it except Europe and North America) see bribery and corruption as normal business practice, so can't see what all the fuss is about.
I think bribery and corruption are also normal business practice in the west
The positive economic impact for 99% of the population is zero.
Perhaps but I still say there is a lot to be said for the opportunity to experience that carnival atmosphere in your own back garden (rather than simply watching in on TV taking place in some western country)
The beautiful game is worldwide and that needs to be reflected in the World Cup hosting. These kinds of huge events can be life affirming and life changing. The positives can be more than just financial
I don't dispute that. I backpacked around Europe in 1998 and got to experience what the World Cup meant to those countries and, by a happy coincidence, I happened to be in Nice, France the night of the final match between France and Brazil when France was the host country. They set up a huge screen in the middle of town and I sat on top of a bus shelter watching the game with tens of thousands of people. When France won it was the most electric atmosphere I've ever seen in my life people literally celebrated (except the one guy wearing a Brazilian flag who got in a fight with about 5 French guys) and car horns honked until well into the late morning the next day and I bought every newspaper I could to keep to remember the occasion even though I know about 30 words of French.
There were three incredibly gorgeous girls each one each in a red, white and blue dress and with a big French flag draped on their back with the corresponding color of the flag matched to the girl in that color dress. I got a quick shot of them from the top of the shelter and I tried like hell to get down quick enough to get a close up and pose with them, but since I was 10 ft up it took me a few seconds to get down and by that time they were lost in the crowd......still regret it to this day.
I have issues with France but I was thrilled they won it on that occasion and I got to be involved in something so amazing. I imagine when England won it in '66 the celebration was just as big.
It saddens me that the United States will never have such an event to celebrate because there is no national team that people care about like most countries do about their football team. Even if the US were to win the WC someday the celebrations would be tame by comparison. The closest thing we ever had was the "Miracle on Ice" in the 1980 Olympics and that was a combination of the fact it was in Lake Placid, it was our hated enemy and a bunch of 3rd and 4th tier US players beat one of the greatest hockey teams ever assembled. I doubt those circumstances will ever happen again.
But still when you see a country like Brazil spend such ridiculous sums on back to back events like the WC and Olympics, it shows how screwed up priorities can be.
People think of Rio and hot babes on the beach and Christ looking down over it all when they think of Brazil. The truth though is the country has so many social and economic problems that it's frightening. I read an article a few months ago about the top 20 most dangerous cities in the world and something like 12 of them were in Brazil alone!!!!! Even Medellin, Colombia which used to be a synonymous for the words "brutal murder" wasn't on the chart and has apparently seen huge drops in crime and increased standards of living.
I'm sure Brazil was thrilled when they won the right to host the cup, and some of them will never forget that thrill. I'm also sure though many Brazilians want to forget that cup ever happened because Germany kicked the living shit out of them in epic fashion on their home soil.
Obviously the World Cup and the Olympics aren't going away and some country will always be ready to pick up the tab. I just think when it's a country like Brazil that had to spend so much on getting ready, including building a stadium in the middle of the jungle where all the materials had to be brought inland by ship at extraordinary cost and a facility that will hardly, if ever, be used to close to capacity again, something is SERIOUSLY wrong.
Obviously the money they spent on the Olympics and WC wouldn't magically fix all their problems. I can't help but believe that, if it were put to good use though, that money could drastically change the lives of countless citizens for the better in a long term way.
Instead though they had 4 weeks of being in the spotlight, their usually dominant team get drilled like never before, very little positive economic impact on the country as a whole, and a whole bunch of expensive ass structures that won't be used again for the scale they were designed for and will probably fall into disrepair in short order.
Sometimes you have take off the rose colored glasses and look at it pragmatically and ask is the "experience" of hosting these events really worth it?
Was it worth it for a country with such issues to spend so much?
Is it worth it for all those men who have died in Qatar so they can host a cup in 120 degree heat where everyone playing and watching the game in person is probably going to be completely miserable for 90 minutes?
Well until I have a position to influence such things (read:never) I guess I'll just have to accept that's the way it is.
