Comments on: Mayor Daley Denies Chicago World Cup Opportunity

By: Mayor Daley Denies Chicago World Cup Opportunity | Pitch Invasion | Buzzer.cc

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:10:39 +0000

[...] Excerpt found on pitchinvasion.net [...]

By: ScoJo

ScoJo — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:08:12 +0000

The biggest surprise to me is that Soldier Field only seats 62,000! The city’s incredible, but the stadium isn’t a very compelling argument.

By: Sebastien Labat

Sebastien Labat — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:38:17 +0000

Hey guys,
Let’s get over it by supporting the First nationwide amateur soccer world cup ever organized in the United States with Finals in Soldier Field on Sunday July 11th, day of the FIFA World Cup Final – broadcasted there as well.
This is called EthniCity Soccer.
The first press release was just sent out yesterday and the momentum HAS to grow around this event to show the United States and the World that Chicago loves the international events such as the FIFA World Cup!
We’re gonna fill Soldier Field up and we’re gonna have the biggest World Cup Final viewing party ever!!
You can join ethnicity soccer USA 2010 on Facebook!
Take care
seb

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:21:02 +0000

Overall, Chicago got screwed out of this by their own leadership. Typical.

Houston in the summer is horrid (actually, it’s horrid anytime, but it’s worse in the summer), unless you’re playing football in an enclosed, air-conditioned stadium like Reliant Field. Then, it’s not so bad. Same for Dallas (actually, Arlington).

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:47:49 +0000

I got this response when I e-mailed the website regarding Chicago’s exclusion:

Dear Richard,

First of all thank you for your email and your support of the USA Bid.

I would like to explain some of the reasons why we were unable to include Chicago as part of the final 18 cities.

Under normal circumstances, Chicago would have been part of our national bid, given its soccer tradition, diversity, location and reputation as a world-class city.

Since we announced in February of last year our intention to bid for the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022, we knew we would be approaching Chicago at a challenging and potentially problematic time in relation to our own World Cup bid, whether the 2016 Olympics bid was successful or not.

FIFA’s bidding process clearly establishes that any city and stadium that is proposed by any bidding nation has to be accompanied by corresponding signed agreements.

At this time, the Chicago Park District was unable to meet these FIFA contractual requirements. Without these mandatory signed documents, it was impossible for the USA Bid Committee to even consider Chicago to be part of the final 18. So it was with some disappointment, but also much compassion, that we mutually agreed to move forward in our bid without Chicago.

Here is a link to an article that appeared in the New York Times this past Friday and that talks about this situation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/sports/soccer/15cncpulse.html

Once upon a time, the notion of a U.S. bid without Chicago might have been unthinkable. Today we have a surplus of world class cities worthy of being hosts, with a collection of venues that have no match anywhere in the world. As a nation, we still need every soccer fan’s support to win this bid and bring the largest sporting event in the world to our country.

Hope this email helps explain why the USA Bid Committee was unable to consider Chicago in the final list.

Thanks again for your support,

Jurgen Mainka
Director of Communications
USA Bid Committee

By: joejoejoe

joejoejoe — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:01:20 +0000

Tom was right, I was wrong. I speculated and was off the mark. Not sure why Sunil Gulati would bring up the stadium size when asked why Chicago was left out but you can see in the CNC story that Chicago withdrew.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:22:12 +0000

And sorry for doubting you Tom.

By: snakes

snakes — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:18:13 +0000

Thanks for the link, Horacio…. be hard pressed to continue blaming USSF for this one, but I’m sure some of the fanatics will find a deranged argument to do so.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:15:34 +0000

I will actively campaign against Daley based on that info.

By: Horacio

Horacio — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:52:38 +0000

the bid was not just weak or half-assed. It was taken off the table completely.