Russia And Qatar Win Fifa Vote

Thursday, 2nd December 2010 at 16:18pm

Russia and Qatar have won the right to host the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups following a tense day of presentations and voting in Zurich.

Fifa President Sepp Blatter made the announcements to the world at around 15.30 GMT in front of a packed audience of dignitaries, Fifa Executive Committee members and the world media.

The Russian bid, seen by many to have fallen away in the past few days, was the first to be announced, sparking joyous celebrations among the bidding team before they were invited onto the stage to be officially confirmed as the winning nation.

It is the first time that the World Cup finals will be hosted by an Eastern European nation.

Moments later, Qatar - a bid described by Fifa as the most risky - was declared the host nation for the 2022 World Cup finals, a decision that has been met instantly with scorn by several high profile football commentators on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Oliver Kay, chief football correspondent of The Times, wrote, "Only Fifa could class Qatar as the biggest risk of all the bidders and then vote for it. Joke of an organisation.

The hard work now begins for both nations with Russia needing to build 14 stadiums in host cities the length and breadth of the country while Qatar will need to live up to its promise of building air-conditioned stadia to counter the 50 degree summer heat.

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