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FIFA World Cup Decision Day – As Covered By Twitter

December 2, 2010 — by Suman

Yes, we couldn’t resist tuning in this morning to fifa.com for their live stream of the honorable Sepp Blatter hosting Double Decision Day.  But we also tuned into our twitter stream.  Here’s a curation of what we read in those 30 minutes:

10:28amET:
“Whisper in the auditorium is England “punished” for nasty media. But it was never ours to lose (contrary to bookies’ odds)”
“Guess what, folks. More unconfirmed reports. Russia are believed to have won the vote for 2018. Putin’s plane on standby…”
“Rumores rusos. Rumores Rusos. En definitiva sólo rumores….. Confiemos, somos IBÉRICOS!!!!!”
#usa2022 #goUSAbid Here we go!”

10:32am:
“Ugh Sepp Bladder loves the sound of his own voice.”

10:33am:
“12 years as #FIFA Prez and I think his English has gotten worse…”
“Hey Scotland got a mention!”
“is he getting paid by the word?”
“Sepp, I can’t handle the taste of bile anymore. Just announce it already.”

10:34am:
“Sepp’s words aren’t making me feel hopeful. He’s building a case for something weird.”
“”This game is more than just a game or kicking the ball” <insert corruption joke here>”

10:35am:
“I don’t know any Swiss who speak worse English than Sepp.”
“Blahh Blahh Blatter. Get to it!!”
“Sepp Blatter points out soccer’s origins being in China, precursor to Asian host? Ruh-Roh.”
“Russia got the bid, so the BBC & Spanish media report.”
“Que pesao Blatter”
“I’m surprised gobidqatar is not a promoted trending topic on twitter.”

10:36am:
“Hahaha! Sepp Blatter is ridiculous. Then the camera pans to Chuck Blazer. What a room.”
“Both Marca and Sky Sports are reporting Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. Official decisions to be delivered in a few minutes.”
“Would love it if Prince William stood up, shouted “ahhh, for f**k’s sake!” and stormed out.”
“Lots of disrespectful tweets about Blatter. Do you guys not realise Fifa is honest and clean? Russia bid said so in presentation”

10:37am:
“Bollocks”
#usa2022 #goUSAbid The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Russia!”
“RUSSIA GETS 2018. WOW.”
“2018. Russia. Holy m’king. Silence.”

10:38am:
“The 2018 World Cup goes to Russia! Thoughts? Does this help or hurt the US bid?”
“Putos rusos, bolcheviques de mierda”
“HAPPY ARSHAVIN!”
“Russia 2018 World Cup. potentially scary places back to back to back. Can they go four in a row? #gousabid
“Sepp Blatter can finally buy those platform shoes now”
“Arshavin looks like a wee boy just taken out of private school for the day.”
“Putin jumps his jet triumphant .. why should you doubt him?”

10:39am:
“If FIFA have indeed punished England due to its media, it will be a Pyrrhic victory. Cry havoc and let slip the journos of war.”
“I am sure money played no part.”
“Yesterday’s fan violence in England clearly swayed FIFA to the peaceful utopia of Russia. #GoUSABid

10:40am:
“Leggy woman, possibly called Svetlana, on stage with the Russian delegation…something to expect more of in 2018?”

10:41am:
“Right, let’s unleash Fleet Street’s nastiest bastards and send them direct to Blatter’s dustbins. Let’s take ’em down.”

10:42am:
“Quicker than you can say “Oi! FIFA! Shove it!” – we give Sepp and chums an almighty broadside *shaking fists*http://tinyurl.com/37vkzqa
“Now Panorama broadcast the stuff you felt was too sensitive to broadcast!”
“Hopefully there will soon be a Kanye moment re: Russia’s victory.”
“It’s true, money can’t buy you love, but rubles get you twelve FIFA delegates…”
“Hey, we can say something nice about Sepp! He knows how to pronounce “Qatar.” *stomach churning* #GoUSABid

10:43am:
“Sepp: “I will not repeat what I have said before about the importance of football. But then, I will, kind of.””

10:44am:
“And the 2022 World Cup will be hosted by … Qatar”
“QATAR wins bid to host World Cup 2022. Joy in Doha, agony for US bid. US public: “I can’t believe we lost to these guys.””
“Ratio of women to men in audience- 1:150 #FIFAPatriarchy
“Choosing Qatar and Russia is the biggest indictment possible that FIFA is not a clean organization. Petrodollars talk.”
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
“Qatar to host 2022 World Cup http://bit.ly/i8HoIE
“And, yes, it is Qatar too. Blimey. Qatar and Russia.”

10:45am:
“The 2022 World Cup has been awarded to Qatar. Big disappointment for USA but the oddsmakers were right.”
“…and there it is. Now, Qatar Airways, fancy giving me a freebie to the final stages of the Asian Cup in January?”
“Football 0 – 2 Petro dollars”
“Time to build soccer by ourselves. Hope MLS is up to it.”
“Qatar (pronounced “Gutted”). http://bit.ly/getPN3
“Greatest heat differential between successive World Cups of all time is tied up”
“Qatar world cup hosts? The country is the size of Connecticut. To be fair though. it is as rich as…Connecticut” [from our very own John Lally]
“Dear FIFA, F*CK You. Signed, America. You corrupt pieces of sh*t.”

10:46am:
“Now lets hope Qatar’s money doesn’t dry up & their football team get a lot fucking better”
“Never over till it’s over USA. There is always chance Qatar doesn’t get the job done & USA gets to step in and save the day #WishfulThinking
“I always say I don’t care if the USA wins, and I’m always heartbroken when we don’t. I believe in paradigm-shifting, but really? Really?”
“Russia/Qatar. A triumph for ethnic diversity, infrastructure and of course the fans. Great work, Fifa ExCo” [from an English journalist]

10:47am:
“And… all the rumors about insane bribes being thrown around to get the 2022 World Cup have been proven correct! Wow.” [from @SportGuy33]
“You see Brits, Americans, if you didn’t depend on oil, neither Russia nor Qatar would have won their#WorldCup bids.”
“In the poker game of World Cup bidding, cash plays.#ChaChing
“Actually Blatter awarded Qatar the “two 22″ World Cup so 2022 is still up for grabs”
“Qater will be the first Middle Eastern state to host a World Cup. Qatar has yet to qualify for the Cup.”
[4min gap in our stream, not sure what happened.  No doubt we missed some choice tweets.]

10:51am:
“”I am a happy president,” chirps Blatter. And with that, the curtain falls on another uplifting act in the benevolent world of sport.

10:52am:
“Budweiser should cash in their sponsorship rights for the world cup now before Qatar 2022, no public consumption of alcohol allowed.”

10:53am:
“One thing no one has mentioned is that Russia switching it’s league season to be more in line with the calendar FIFA wants had an effect.”
“Wait, so the World Cup should be awarded to the country with the best human right record? Seriously, think some of this through.”
“Did anybody else wonder whether we actually wanted the World Cup in England, especially after the Birmingham fight last night?”
“It will be interesting to see all the stadiums in Qatar as they are built. Their presentation yesterday looked promising.”

10:54am:
“I wonder if an African team will play in St Petersburg.. Zenit fans won’t be too happy….”
“Qatar, of course, will be seeded for the 2022 World Cup. Makes perfect sense, when you think about it… #itdoesnt
“I apologize in advance 4 my language since I keep it clean on here usually, but 2 quote Kanye West, this is “Fucking Ridiculous” #SoAppalled

10:55am:
“And ESPN outlets return to regular college football programming….”
“Stadiums are one thing, but can you air condition an entire country? FIFA just made it’s own Sasquatch size carbon footprint”
#Nigeria set for 2026 bid. Willing to send FIFA tons of money, they just need Blatter’s bank account number and mother’s maiden name.”
“Qatar is the smallest ever country to host the World Cup (11,000 km2) while Russia is the biggest (17 million km2). Duo.”

10:56am:
“Real talk: Brazil’s going to hold one helluva party in 2014 & we’ll all still be in prison by 2018 anyway. Let’s face facts.”
“Best instructional yet on how to pronounce #Qatar:http://slate.me/aAekTM Keep ’em coming… *sadness*”
“Really? After the financial crisis, we’re harping on about money corrupting? Pot, black, and all the stuff. We got beat at the game. Period.”

10:57am:
“Should we start a campaign now #England2066 surely they can’t deny England that one.”

10:58am:
“Qatar have lost to Kuwait, Iraq and Haiti recently and their FA was not invented till 1970.”

10:59am:
“Bad news for investigative journalism. The lesson here is obviously to turn a blind eye to corruption, wherever you may find it.”
“Bitter irony: some people now outraged about Qatar’s treatment of women are the same ones who mock/ignore women’s game.”
“Good news for South Africa. They won’t be the only host nation ever to go out in the 1st round for long. Assuming Qatar don’t buy Brazil.”