South Korea’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup contains plans to play some of the matches in North Korea, according to a report due to be released today.
The results of the bidding are due to be announced on December 2nd, when FIFA will reveal the names of the hosts of both the 2018 and 2022 competitions. South Korea is competing with Australia, Japan, Qatar and the U.S. for the right to host the latter event.
Among the strengths of the South Korean bid are the popularity of football in the country, which has the oldest professional football league in Asia, excellent infrastructure dating back to the 2002 World Cup, world class communications infrastructure, excellent public transport and the strength of government backing for the hosting of major events.
However, the Korean bid is not without its problems, not least the risks associated with dealing with North Korea. “FIFA’s legal risk appears to be medium,” according to the report, which was obtained yesterday by Bloomberg News.
In addition, it adds, “The necessary government support has not been documented as neither the government guarantees, the government declaration, nor the government legal statement have been provided in compliance with FIFA’s requirements for government documents.”
In addition, if previous attempts to host joint events between the two Koreas are any guide, it will be hard for Seoul to reach agreement with Pyongyang.
In 1988, North and South attempted to co-host the Summer Olympic Games, but South Korea dismissed North Korea’s demand to be the host of 11 of 23 sporting events as excessive, offering 5 events instead. The talks eventually collapsed and North Korea eventually boycotted the entire games alongside six other nations including Cuba.
North and South also failed to even march together at the opening ceremony for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China this month, something they had previously done in more cordial times at two summer Olympics, in 2000 and 2004, and one Asian Games, in Doha, Qatar in 2006.
Lee Kee Heung, the chief of the South Korean team at the games in China, said in early November that he planned to contact North Korean officials to arrange a meeting for a possible joint march, but apparently retracted his plan the following day.
