Morning Ticker: FIFA's Plan B for 2010, Blatter enters Cristiano Ronaldo fray and Barca signs Hleb

                                                                    Photo by ISIphotos.com

Sepp Blatter didn't really surprise anybody when he said he had a back-up plan in case South Africa could not host the 2010 World Cup,  but when the FIFA president came out and said he had three countries lined up as potential replacements, you couldn't help but wonder if FIFA might be ready to pull the plug on South Africa being the host.

Blatter was careful with his wording, stating that the back-up plans would kick in only if a "natural catastrophe" took place that prevented South Africa from being able to host the event, but that was enough to leave the soccer world speculating on whether FIFA is preparing to pull the plug on South Africa 2010.

So what three countries might be in the mix to be Plan B? Germany, which did a great job of hosting the 2006 World Cup, has to be considered a candidate, while the United States is clearly capable of hosting the tournament on short notice. I saw Australia reported somewhere as a potential candidate but I just can't see that happening.

I asked U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati about this a week ago, when Blatter first made comments about a back-up plan, and Gulati wasn't touching the subject, but based on speeches Gulati has made to the media regarding the United States' ability to host a World Cup, it is safe to say that U.S. Soccer believes it can do as good a job as anybody of hosting the World Cup on short notice.

Should South Africa be worried? It will all depend on how the 2009 Confederations Cup goes. Blatter didn't say it in so many words, but reading between the lines you could basically assume that the Confederations Cup tournament will determine whether FIFA feels comfortable with South Africa being able to handle hosting the World Cup. If it fails that test, then the scramble will be on.

Blatter likens Ronaldo-Man U situation to slavery

As if the Man U-Real Madrid battle over Cristiano Ronaldo weren't already dramatic enough, now Sepp Blatter has stepped up to provide his two cents (and usual ridiculous statements) to the conversation.

The FIFA president equated Manchester United's unwillingness to sell Ronaldo to a form of modern-day slavery, essentially putting his foot in his mouth for about the 20,000th time during his reign as FIFA president.

"I think in football there's too much modern slavery in transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere," Blatter said. "We are trying now to intervene in such cases. The reaction to the Bosman law is to make long-lasting contacts in order to keep the players and then if he wants to leave, then there is only one solution, he has to pay his contract."

Blatter failed to point out that A) Ronaldo recently signed a contract extension with Manchester United and B) Ronaldo makes more money than any slave in the history of human civilization.

Blatter also urged Manchester United to sell Ronaldo if Ronaldo wants to leave, saying that FIFA is always in support of the players in matters like these. No word on Blatter's take on the New England-Preston North End tug of war over Taylor Twellman.

Barcelona set to sign Hleb

After loading up on defensive players this transfer period, Barcelona took the first step toward bolstering an offense that struggled at times last season with the addition of Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb. Barca is set to pay a $26.3 million transfer fee for the Belarusian. That's a pretty big price to pay for a team that has yet to sell Ronaldinho or Samuel Eto'o.

So what do you think of the World Cup 2010 situation? Would you like to see the United States step up? Want to see Germany get another shot? What do you think about Blatter's comments regarding Cristiano Ronaldo? Is Hleb going to be a star for Barca? Share your thoughts on these stories in the comments section below.

Comments

[steve]

last time i checked, Blatter wasnt the owner Manchester United...

[martha c]

Pull the plug already.

Theres no way South Africa can pull it off. With Oil prices rising and everything falling behind it just cant happen.

It was a HUGE mistake to give it to them. The thought was nice but theres a reason its a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!!! If Columbia couldn pull it off in 86 theres no way South Africa could do it now.

Unless your being polite, any rational person knows that the US is best capable to pull it off with NO PROBLEM.

Then you can avoid the fight and give it to England in 2018.

Or

Give it to England and let the US have 2018. Then the US can take advantage of Chicagos Olympic stadium and Olympic infrastructure.

But I doubt anyone outside of Europe will stand for them giving back to back World Cups to another European country.

I could see Mex being a contender except there stadiums are really old and ugly.

[Steve]

As much as I would love the US to get a world cup out of nowhere, I hope FIFA sticks to their guns and helps South Africa get this done rather than backing out on them. They've invested too much not to get it so that the FIFA muckity mucks can be more comfortable somewhere else.

[kpugs]

Steve, I think the more obvious thing to explain to Mr. Sepp "Girls uniforms need to be sexier" Blatter is that as far as I know slaves were not paid tens of millions of pounds to do their "jobs," hence the term slavery. Is this guy kidding? I can't believe he keeps being re-elected.

[brett]

last time i checked, Blatter was an idiot

[Brant]

"last time i checked, Blatter was an idiot"

In other late-breaking news, gravity continues to hold people to the planet.

[Anne]

There's a video on ESPNsoccernet where some FIFA official (not sure who) says there was not even the THOUGHT of a Plan B.

So that means they've been planning this for years.

[fieldsy]

pulling the world cup from south africa would be a huge blow to fifa, especailly seeing they have invested over 2 billion dollars. i would love to see the u.s. get it, but i think england has just as good as a chance. if south africa loses the world cup venue, do they still get an automatic bid?

[Betinho]

I still think Sepp Blatter would be the next great Bond villain. Or at least the next Austin Powers villain. He's a character of himself. The only person who holds a torch to him as far as bufoonery (is that a word) is George W.

All that being said...South Africa is unfortunately not a safe place. As someone else said...nice idea but it's not a stable palce for hundreds of thousands of drunken, well off soccer fans to be hanging out. the business I'm in finds people in SA often and there are some mind numbing true horror stories I could relate to you. There needs to be a plan B and they need to find a way to pull out gracefully for the safety of the fans. Of course the US can host at basically the flip of a switch. It's very logical.

[Andrew]

As an Arsenal fan I am happy to see Hleb go. We'll use that money for someone who can actually provide results.

I would be ecstatic if the US was given the World Cup. I think it would help the sport here tremendously.

[Chase]

The Chicago Olympic Stadium is temporary, I'm assuming if the US was to host the WC in 2018 or 2022, the newly renovated Soldier Field will be where the game is held.

The three backups for 2010 are the US, England, and Germany, no other country, outside of maybe Spain could host a top level tournament (with the stadiums necessary) on such short notice. I think they should try to stick with South Africa, but if the situation becomes untenable, then I hope their loss is our gain...

[chupacabra]

It would only make sense to host the 2010 World Cup in the US. At the current rate that the dollar is devaluing, it will be first world infrastructure at third world prices (at least for fans whose salaries are paid in Euros and Sterling)!

[Chase]

I should have said that the Chicago Olympic Stadium will be temporary, assuming they are awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics, which is still a long shot...

[Fire Ron Guenther]

as an Arsenal fan, selling Hleb for that kind of cash is great business for a guy who doesn't shoot and for a winger hardly scores. Great dribbler & passer though which will be missed, but using that cash to pay for Nasri will be ok with me.

Just pull the plug on South Africa. Not a safe place, bad infrastructure.

[brett]

brant- see it wouldve made sense if it was next to steven's post.... but by the time i read the article and posted 5 others have posted, isolating my run-on post...

[peterk]

Like the London olympic stadium the Chicago olympic stadium will be scaled down significantly after the games if they took place (to something like a 5,000 seater only). Soldier Field would still be the option (and since it's renovation it's a fantastic stadium despite the spaceship exterior). Every major U.S. city (Los Angeles maybe excluded) could be a go-to with 65,000 plus modern NFL stadiums that are rarely used in June.

[rmiller]

I think it would be great if the U.S. got the plan B bid for 2010. Germany shouldt get it since they just hosted. I think tourists would love to come visit America. Big Money.

I have seen some of the ESPNsoccernet video on SA and it does have some problems with building those stadiums. Everyone there thinks there is no worries, so we'll see.

[Nic D "The Texas 2 Stepper"]

"It was a HUGE mistake to give it to them. The thought was nice but theres a reason its a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!!!"

Have you ever been to SA? Ever been out of the country?

I think you are terribly misinformed about SA being a third world country.

Do you know any South Africans? Do you know about their economy? educational system? etc?

Exactly what defines 3rd World country for you?

"the business I'm in finds people in SA often and there are some mind numbing true horror stories I could relate to you."

Ever go to Compton, Watts, Crenshaw, Cabrini Green (Northside Chi Town).

Ever go to "Zoo York" before Giulliani?

Mind numbing True HORROR Stories in the good ole' U S of A!

[Adam R]

When they hold a World Cup in the USA and play the games in Compton, East Cleveland, or Newport News then maybe you'll have a valid point, but you don't.

South Africa has well documented problems with violent crime, unemployment, AIDS and lack of infrastructure.

South Africa is not ready for a World Cup. If your only argument against it is that I'm a xenophobe, then you're just not very good at arguing, are you?

In other news, Blatter comparing the Ronaldo situation to slavery might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Is this man even educated? I can't wait to hear Sir Alex's scathing response to this idiot.

[Nic D "The Texas 2 Stepper"]

"South Africa has well documented problems with violent crime, unemployment, AIDS and lack of infrastructure"

violent crime - check

unemployment - check

AIDS - check

Hooray we have infrastructure!

By the way, I did not mention xenophobia.

C what U want 2 C! Here what UR heart has spoken!

[A.S.]

Wait, won't the new Giants Stadium be ready by 2010?

[josh]

Hey-don't knock pre-Giuliani NYC! That's when it still was NYC, and not the Disney version!

[onionsack]

given the state of the US dollar these days, having it here would be a god send for many europeans traveling.

It would shatter attendance records again, the only reason Germany won total attendace records last time was because they had many more matches in an expanded field. The per game avg still is a US record.

The amount of media power here would guarentte sucess.

All in all, the USA is the perfect place to host a WC for everyone involved.

So i doubt FIFA will do it.

[mig22]

South Africa is not a perfect place but for the good of the world game...not to mention the good of South Africa...it should be held there. Similar to not playing the games in the slums of the US, they will not be playing the games in the SA equivalent of the favelas. The country has cosmopolitan cities, hotels, space, and infrastructure in the works.

That being said....still a lot of work to go for them.

[andy b.]

I think they should host the WC at the new Red Bulls Park. It'll totally be ready in time.

[satan]

is it really possible to wait until the confed cup next year before moving the World Cup to another country? the logistics seem too difficult to do this with about 11 months to spare.

[CACuzcatlan]

Satan, I assume they are already telling the back-up countries to be ready and will have chosen one way before the Confederations Cup. That way, if there is a need to move it, the backup country will have had enough time to prepare.

[Alex]

If it came to FIFA switching the world cup to another country, don't you think they should try to avoid a war between the US and England for 2018 by awarding 2010 to one of them?

[Ulrich]

What would be interesting about pulling the WC from South Africa is that the host country gets automatic qualification. How would this work - would South Africa have to join the African qualification? Would the substitute host get to quit the remainder of their qualifying games? if so, how would that affect the other countries in their continental qualification groups that may have lost to them already?

Lots of questions are raised and FIFA cannot afford to wait too long if they plan on switching the venue. It would be a sham if say the substitute was Germany, but they still had to continue to qualify and a catastrophy takes place with them failing to advance...

[DeLarge]

If the World Cup is hosted here in 2010, when will we start worrying about the as-yet unbroken record for host countries advancing out of the group stage?

[MiamiAl]

The U.S. HAS to be one of the three countries Blatter is talking about. (PLEASE be the U.S.!) Come see how the sport has grown in such as short time since we last hosted the most successful cup. I would think England and Germany would be the other two countries.

My feeling is that no matter how dangerous or unsafe South Africa is, FIFA would be willing to put our lives at risk, and risk the fragility of the host nation as well, all to save face. Only natural catastrophe will change that path now. We will all be gambling when we go down to South Africa! Safety will be an issue!

[kco]

I love this line:

"Blatter failed to point out that A) Ronaldo recently signed a contract extension with Manchester United and B) Ronaldo makes more money than any slave in the history of human civilization."

LMAO!

[Original Aaron]

FIFA once again shows their true colors... Pulling WC2010 would be a HUGE blow to South Africa, and set the country back, perhaps irrevocably. The country has invested millions of $ on FIFA's promise to bring the World Cup, I think FIFA has an ethical and moral obligation to follow through on that committment. It certainly can be argued that SA should never have gotten the WC, but now that it has been awarded, it would be the height of hypocrisy for FIFA to take the WC, which at the time of its awarding was touted as much as an economic stimulus package for SA as it was hailed as an avenue for sport, and instead give it to a rich, industrialized country- effectively destroying the SA economy rather than boosting it. FIFA is pathetic. If they weren't prepared to do what it takes to help SA pull it off, they should never have given it to them. As it is, they seem to have no ethical problem with making tons of promises, allowing SA to spend tons of money THEY DON'T HAVE upon the promise of recouping that money during the tournament, only to have the tournament never played. How does Sepp sleep at night?

[northzax]

Blatter's slavery comment was directed at Sir Alex, who used the same type of language the other month to refer to Real Madrid and Franco.

of course the US could host the WC in a year's time, heck, the SEC, Big Ten or Pac Ten could host one on a month's notice and outdraw Germany 06.

for the person asking about LA, well, the Rose Bowl still holds 90k+ and is grass, worked well in 94.

[BishopMVP]

quote=Nic D "The Texas 2 Stepper" "violent crime - check
unemployment - check
AIDS - check

Hooray we have infrastructure!"

I've been to S. Africa twice in the last three years, once for a semester (4 months) and I like the country a lot. But if you really want to equate the US with SA I don't know what to say. Unemployment - ~5% in the US, ~25% in SA. AIDS/HIV - well under 1% in the US, between 15%-39% in SA.

I'll agree that the initial characterization of SA as a 3rd world country was a bit harsh, if only because there never appears to be a 2nd world, but there is no way you can compare it to the US and hope to come out close to even. And don't discount infrastructure - otherwise everyone would have to drive cars, which isn't really the best thing if we're talking about Johannesburg.

[KyleB]

I just moved back to the USA from South Africa.

And let me say that I LOVE South Africa and I especially love South Africans...

But I think that 2010 may be a little too much for them...Having lived in Africa for some time, I can only say that I hope I am wrong - but I would bet that 2010 will be held elsewhere or, if not, will be very unsuccessfully held in South Africa...

Crime is as bad as you hear. And the stadiums are further behind than they are telling you.

[paul Lorinczi]

Chances are, if they are unable to hold it South Africa, the US will probably get the nod. FIFA can make up a lot of ground financially in the US with the stadiums we have.

[Brant]

Brett - I was agreeing with you, and my comment was aimed at Blatter's incredible string of dumbness, not at the fact that you had similar sentiments to those above you.

I was picking on him, not you :)

Sorry if it came out wrong.

[Chg]

Nic, I suspect you haven't spent much time in South Africa or talked to many people who have.

You can also give the US a check for self-loathing multiculturalists whose rush to avoid any hint of ethnocentrism leaves them incapable of rational analysis or dialogue.

[mig22]

See, Bishop and Kyle made sensible remarks about the state of affairs in South Africa. Thanks for the insight since you have been there recently.

That said, I will maintain that it is simply too important to the sport, to FIFA's credibility, and to the South African nation to pull the tournament now. The business people there have invested a lot, it is not only the government. If that were the case, the fallback nation could simply pay the SA government part of the proceeds. But that will never help the individuals who have staked large money in the buying of land, building of hotels, restaurants, etc. Also there are the contractors that were awarded work to expand roads, mass transit, etc.

If a bomb could be set off in the Olympic village in Atlanta and athletes taken hostage in Munich, and fans killed by hooligans all over the world, safety is simply not enough cause to move the Cup. There is never safety where large numbers of people gather anymore. So, as long as the stadia are complete and there is not open warfare in the streets...I think it has to be a go.

My two pennies worth...

[Chg]

With very little effort, I discovered that South Africa's murder rate per capita (#1 in the world) is higher than the current COMBINED murder rate of every other World Cup host in history.

South Africa is also the world leader in rapes per capita, with a rate 4x higher than that of the US. This despite the fact that it is likely a much higher % of South African rapes are unreported relative to US offenses.

Aside from the obvious infrastructure concerns, there are very good reasons to avoid putting tens of thousands of affluent WC fans on the streets of South Africa.

[Original Aaron]

mig22- I couldn't agree more. I get that we are all soccer fans, and we would all love nothing more than to see the game prosper here, and hosting another WC, short notice or otherwise, would go along way towards making that a reality- but are we really so unfeeling that we are willing to encourage FIFA to completely shaft SA in order for us to benefit? Come on guys! We should all be outraged that FIFA would be willing to do this to a country that they have been pledging to help for the past ___ years (however many years it has been since the 2010 Cup was awarded)

[Original Aaron]

Chg- all of those are extremely valid arguments you could make as to why the WC shouldn't have been awarded to SA. Which of those statistics, however, is a new situation that didn't exist at the time that FIFA decided to put the WC in SA? Exactly. If FIFA could turn a blind eye towards those statistics at the time they awarded the WC, and tell the South African government and business community to invest heavily, then it is downright unethical and cowardly to suddenly now, after the majority of the money has been spent, to decide that those same statistics make staging a WC in SA untenable. I am not denying that SA is a country with problems, I am merely saying that it is shameful and wrong to entice people to spend millions and millions of dollars and then not give them the opportunity to recoup the benefits of their investment.

[Betinho]

orig aaron, good point about FIFA knowing ahead of time. However, sometimes it's ok to realize when a mistake is made. I really don't believe they will move it for exactly the reasons - money already invested and FIFA pride - mentioned here. I suggested earlier that they would have to make the pull out as graceful as possible. I'm not saying this because I want to WC in the US, it just seems a little naive (in a positive way) to have selected SA. There are other countries hosting WC's that have similar issues. Where is 2014 again? It would be great if these countries were in fact viable options. If they do pull out and it does come to the US maybe some of the revenue could be funneled back to SA for their investments.

[Joseph D'Hippolito]

Sepp Blatter talks about the possibility of a natural catastrophe. Heck, Blatter is a natural catastrophe all by himself.

[Justice]

"Blatter failed to point out that A) Ronaldo recently signed a contract extension with Manchester United and B) Ronaldo makes more money than any slave in the history of human civilization."

Ives, what can I say but spot on.

In terms of USA potentially hosting, would the US automomatically qualify? Oh hope this question wasn't already asked and answered.

[rocky]

If the usa were given the world cup on short notice, it will continue this huge momentum for soccer in this country. I can only imagine the media buzz that will surround the news. If anyone is paying close attention, then you would know that the CBA expires after the next MLS season. Perfect timing to see the world stars play in America a couple months following the 2009 MLS season The league needs to do something about the meager salary cap. This country needs stars, and I think were ready for the big time. I really think this sport could become a major player in the American sports seen, if we bring in the best players on the planet. Lets just hope South Africa blows it, and we are rewarded with the cup.

[papa bear]

I wouldn't bet on Germany being a big front runner. WC2006 stretched their resources to the gills and they had 4 years to prepare for that. (and they are the richest most advanced nation in Europe) They could probably pull it off barely but it'd be tough.

Considering the job the US did with the Women's WC that had to be moved on EXTREMELY short notice it would be hard to believe they (we) wouldn't be the front runner. That was still arguably the best, smoothest women's world cup ever which is ridiculous considering the time constraints that were involved in preparing.

[Adam R.]

Nick your accusation of xenophobia was implied when you asked the poster if they'd ever actually left America.

And do some research and check the AIDS, unemployment and violent crime rates and compare them with South Africa. Your arguments are unfounded.

And infrastructure is damn important.