Russia has pulled out of the bid for the 2022 World Cup and no it wasn’t a decision made because of the recent corruption charges two FIFA officials received for their role in allegedly attempting to sell their secret ballot votes in exchange for money. In fact the reason why Russia will no longer be considered for the 2022 World Cup is similar to the reason why the USA removed their bid for the 2018 World Cup being that neither nation has much of a chance of being awarded the honor that specific year.
FIFA officials have already stressed their interest in an European-based World Cup in 2018 following the first ever African World Cup this summer, so the United States wasn’t a likely candidate to be considered for the hosting opportunity. Russia is already being considered for the 2018 honor and the Eastern European nation will be up against some seriously stiff competition with England, Belgium-Netherlands, and Spain-Portugal finishing out the four destinations of choice. It will be tough for Russia to compete against such football rich competitors, but the country was forced to focus on 2018 rather then 2022 due to the likelihood of the tournament traveling away from Europe that time around.
The 2022 World Cup is expected to be at a non-European based country and the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar remain the five likely candidates to host that tournament. The United States recently finished their inspection week last month when several FIFA officials visited many of the country’s elite venues and hosting cities.
http://www.daysarenumbers.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/250px-ivan_drago_2.jpg