Better Know a World Cup Bid: Japan 2022

Sorry, Japan: No, and No.

With FIFA set to pick their favourites on Thursday, we decided to take a peek at the nine bidders and assess their chances, their hopes, and whether or not their bid was any good to begin with.

With the 2022 bid, there are a few candidates that stand out, but Japan ain’t one of them.

Who is Bidding?
Remember their co-host job with South Korea in 2002? I do too. I was in college, the games were live at 4 in the morning, and I didn’t get much sleep that month. Senegal beat France, South Korea beat several teams thanks to generous refereeing, and the Samurai Blue quietly topped their group before surrendering meekly to Turkey in the Round of 16.

That’s right; it’s Japan, one of the world leaders in technology and innovation, kings of the shinkansen, the shamisen, and the kapuseru hoteru. Their fusion of old-world custom and spirituality with the cutting edge in modern living makes Japan a wonderful place to visit or live for a while, but what about their World Cup hopes, led by Japanese FA chief Motoaki Inukai?

What are they offering?
The crux of their bid appears to be technology, not exactly Sepp Blatter’s favourite word in recent years. For evidence of how dearly the Japanese bid values their innovations, look no further than the FIFA Technical Report, promising “new football content utilising audio, video, and information technologies; a new high-technology stadium experience; global fan fests; innovative internet business; and educational activities.” All of it’s presented in the typically vague and hopeful FIFA jargon, but at least we’ll have an easier time parsing meaning than, say, Qatar’s glorious but currently-not-in-existence stadia.

However, there is one big “whoa!” in their tech plans: the “Universal Fan Fest”, a thrilling exercise using 200 HD cameras to transmit 3-D images around the world, creating holographic simulcasts and literally projecting every sound, motion and incident during the game onto physical spaces around the world.

Robot Player: More Mobile Than Titus Bramble!

Called Full Court Vision, we must admit that it’s borderline insane, people, but if Qatar can air-condition an entire country, I’ll reserve my skepticism. The initiative—projected budget: ¥550m or $6bn—would mean that if you weren’t at the World Cup, you could sit at, say, Red Bull Arena, and watch the entire game projected onto the pitch.

Of course, this concept is being driven by the arsenal of technology companies aligned with Japan’s bid—Fuji Television, Sony, etc.

For those folks actually going to Japan, the rest of the bid proposals are fairly standard: 11 host cities in a similar spread to those laid out for the 2002 tournament, and 13 stadiums, of which they already have 12 (all to be renovated before 2022, mind you), with all renovations and work budgeted in the region of $700m-$1.2bn.

They’re well ahead of the game on rooms (96,000 contracted, well over the 60,000 minimum), but, hilariously, fall short of FIFA’s requirements for “FIFA headquarter rooms”, which I can only assume is shorthand code for “rooms full of caviar, girls, and unmarked, non-consecutive currency.”

Oh, and Japan are well-positioned with respect to all the smaller, piffling matters like human rights, health/safety, and transport infrastructure. All in all, a solid bid on paper. Unremarkable, bar that flight of digital fancy, but solid.

What are FIFA saying?
Disappointingly for Japan bid hopefuls, not much in the way of definitive word has really emanated from FIFA HQ since the traveling inspection committee wrapped up its visit in July. Head of the committee, Chile’s Harold Mayne-Nicholls, gave a predictably bland press quote: “We must say that it is a very balanced product.” What warm praise! One wouldn’t expect a FIFA member to show much more than their poker face with so many months until the big vote, but even so… no element of human interest or warm, redeeming PR-friendly yarns that Sepp so dearly loves to spin.

That was back in July. In November, the tide was shown very much turning toward South Korea of the two bids; first, the FIFA report noted that all documents expressing complete and total governmental support for the World Cup were not filed—funny how an organization that hates government interference in its sport is so anxious to get heads of state on board around World Cup time—while Sepp had lost himself amid a jungle of hope that the South Korean bid might somehow unify it with its neighbour to the north.

A lofty goal for a soccer executive, but, as we read this morning (and have been watching on the news for the last week), that possibility simply isn’t there.

Keisuke Honda, 2022 Bid Ambassador, isn't helping much

Ergo, both bids weaken as a result, and the lack of a graspable narrative beyond overall commendable competency has allowed this bid to slip under the radar. What, Sepp: a free PSP wasn’t enough?

What is the media saying?
The media isn’t saying much either, if we’re honest. While bids like that of Qatar can boast impressive taglines, the Japanese bid presentation this morning went over with a whimper, carrying the air of a group simply happy to be in attendance and under consideration, and looking to finish the campaign with respect and decency.

The Telegraph‘s Paul Kelso called it “most fun”, while their own bid committee chief conceded some time ago that their bid was not a front-runner, making it hard for the press to give them good odds down the stretch.

What’s their political angle?
Most bids do have some clout within FIFA’s inner circles—CONCACAF’s Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer (USA) are longtime Blatter allies, FIFA Vice President Chung Mong-joon is the former President of the South Korean FA, Qatar-born Mohammed Bin Hammam is currently President of the Asian Football Confederation, and Russia’s bid chairman Vitaly Mutko is also a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee (and has a vote tomorrow, along with all the men I just listed)—but Japan are firmly on the outside looking in.

With four AFC bids in play, they’re unlikely to be able to sway Bin Hammam from any pro-Qatar voting bloc he might be trying to construct, while Mong-joon’s presence (and vocal support for South Korea’s bid as recently as October) is another detracting element.

Face it; they’re relying on goodwill and common sense, neither of which feature prominently within FIFA’s guarded walls.

What are their honest chances?
Non-existent, really. The major piece of FIFA’s income from World Cups hinges on the sale and distribution of TV rights, and, quoting FIFA, allowing Japan another crack at the World Cup so soon after 2002 might lead to “a risk of a reduction in TV income and, as a result, commercial revenue from Europe and the Americas. The income from Asia-Oceania would need to be increased substantially to offset the likelihood of loss of revenue.”

If there’s one thing FIFA hates, it’s the risk of a reduction in TV income, and it’s this element that (I think) has pushed several surprising bids, like Qatar’s (only 3 hours ahead of GMT, and 8 of USA), into the catbirdseat.

They’ll no doubt feel good about their bid and the manner in which they conducted themselves—no small feat considering the mud slung at FIFA and its bidding process in recent weeks—but they’re simply running against forces much bigger than them, or any 3-D holographic game projections they could broadcast across the world.