Morgan Freeman to Lead Off Presentation for the 2022 World Cup

America is a SoccerNation.  Soccer has never been more popular in our country, and especially in Southern California. Now we are in a count down to the decision.  Will the U.S. host the World Cup in 2022?

Former President Clinton, Morgan Freeman, Landon Donovan, Michael Bloomberg, Don Garber, and many more all have worked hard to make it happen.

The US Bid Committee for 2022 FIFA World Cup is now preparing for the final decision. The first members of the USA Bid Committee to arrive in Zurich, Switzerland landed on Saturday morning. The advance team set up the bid's headquarters in downtown Zurich over the weekend. Rehearsals with different members of the bid committee started as early as Sunday. 

LA Galaxy and U.S. Men's National team's Midfielder Landon Donovan landed today in Zurich after having spent some time in Australia with his club team the L.A. Galaxy in a postseason trip. Landon is one of the four presenters for the USA Bid Committee that will take the stage on Wednesday afternoon at FIFA House. 

Numerous members of the USA Bid Committee board of directors are expected to be in Zurich this week to support the presentation team, including: Douglas Band, Counselor to President Bill Clinton, Carlos Cordeiro, Vice Chairman of the USA Bid CommitteeDan Flynn, U.S. Soccer Federation CEO/Secretary General, Don Garber, Major League Soccer Commissioner, Mia Hamm, Former U.S. Women's National Team Forward and Two-Time FIFA Women's World Cup Champion, Tim Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG, Casey Wasserman, Chairman and CEO of Wasserman Media Group and of course, many other members of the team.

The USA Bid Committee visited the FIFA House today and held their official rehearsal in the auditorium where all the action will take place on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Zurich Time (10 a.m. ET). The team had 45 minutes to check that all technology worked flawlessly, with an additional 45 minutes to run through the actual presentation. 

According to Sunil Gulati, the FIFA Vote this Thursday "Is an important date in U.S. soccer history. Thursday's announcement will mark the conclusion of many months of effort. Our presentation to the FIFA Executive Committee on Wednesday will reflect the hard work of our government at every level, our 18 candidate host cities, as well as city officials, sports commissions, stadiums, hotels, training sites, the bid's Board of Directors and staff members and above all the fans of the game who made a distinctive difference in our bid." 

Confused on the voting process?

 

The voting will take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Thursday, December 2, and the process will be as follows:

The 2018 vote will take place first, then the 2022 one. The vote will be by secret ballot and all eligible members of the FIFA Executive Committee can vote in both ballots

To win the right to host the competition, a bidder must obtain an absolute majority (50% + 1) of the votes of the FIFA Executive Committee members present

In the event of a tie when only two bidders remain, the FIFA President will have the casting vote

For any voting round in which an absolute majority is not achieved, the bidder with the lowest number of votes will not progress to the next voting round

If there is a tie for the lowest number of votes in any round, an intermediate voting round will be conducted to determine which of the tied bidders does not progress

When the final decision on the host has been taken, the result will be put in two envelopes and taken by the notary to the "Messe Zurich", where they will be handed over to the FIFA President for the announcements

The FIFA Executive Committee, chaired by President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, approved the voting process to determine the hosts of the 2018 FIFA World CupTM and 2022 FIFA World CupTM during its meeting held in Zurich on Oct. 28 and 29. 

Did you know...

The USA Bid Committee is a non-profit organization created to prepare a successful application to host the FIFA World CupTM in 2022 on behalf of the United States Soccer Federation. President Bill Clinton is the honorary chairman of the USA Bid Committee, US. Soccer President Sunil Gulati is chairman and Carlos Cordeiro the vice-chairman.

The USA Bid Committee's high profile Board of Directors include: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, counselor and aide to President Clinton - Doug Band, comedian Drew Carey, former boxer Oscar De La Hoya, American soccer stars Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm, actors Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger, director Spike Lee and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The U.S. Bid is supported by official sponsors American Airlines, AT&T, Cerner, Fox Soccer Channel and Latham & Watkins. The U.S. Bid includes 18 candidate host cities and it features 18 currently existing stadiums which have been built or renovated in the last 20 years and all of which are in compliance with FIFA requirements. With an average capacity of more than 76,000 spectators, the stadiums in the U.S. Bid offer the availability of a World Cup-record five million tickets.

For more information on the U.S. Bid, visit goUSAbid.com.