MANAMA, Bahrain—Doha, Qatar, was full of life Thursday night,
with men in white robes dancing in the streets, hanging out of car windows,
blowing Vuvuzela horns, and participating in all sorts of other non-alcoholic
celebrations of Qatar's victory in securing the 2022 World Cup.
Your humble Cable guy
landed in Doha Thursday evening on his way to the IISS 2010 Manama Security
dialogue, which began Friday in Bahrain. But before going to bed late Thursday
night, we had the chance to party along with the locals, eat some baby camel
(true story), and tour a city filled with posters and other advertisements for
Qatar's expensive bid to host the tournament.
Of course, the United States was among the finalists for the
hosting honors. So when The Cable sat
down Friday for an exclusive interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
we couldn't help but ask what she thought of Qatar's selection.
Clinton said that the selection of Qatar for 2022, Russia
for 2018, and the earlier selection of Brazil for 2014 represent an effort by
FIFA, the world soccer body, to spread the honor to new regions and reward new
audiences.
"It does make a certain logic, to kind of expand the global
reach and give people who love football more than we do -- soccer football, not
football football -- a chance to have their moment," she said.
Clinton did admit to being at least a little unhappy about
the decision, and gently alluded to the fact that Qatar is a long way from
building all of the stadiums needed for the tournament, not to mention protecting
fans from the blistering summer Doha heat.
"Obviously we were disappointed because, look, we could do
it tomorrow. We've got the facilities already built," she said. "We don't have
to air-condition stadiums."
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