The World Cup is boldly going where it has never gone before. Both Russia and Qatar are virgin lands in virgin regions: no country in either eastern Europe or the Middle East has ever hosted the event.
Yet newness and oil money are all that these two bids had in common. Fifa’s choice of giant Russia instead of England was expected and looks logical. The choice of hot little Qatar is neither. A secretive voting process has produced one peculiar choice.
Unlike England, Russia offered novelty. Sepp Blatter, Fifa’s president, loves filling in the “white spots” on football’s map. Now 74, he presumably awarded his last World Cups yesterday, and he sees spreading football to new territories as his legacy. Crucially, too, that grows football’s economy.
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