2016 FIFA World Cup - Host Selection/Infrastructure
2016 FIFA World Cup - Introduction
Host Selection
The 2016 FIFA World Cup was awarded to France on June 12th, 2005, at the FIFA Congress in Barbados, simultaneously with the 2012 edition's awarding to China.
France was the host of the 1916 inaugural World Cup but since then had not hosted it again, despite being one of Europe's major footballing nations; it hosted the 1950 Western European Championships, a precursor to the Euros, and then the 1966 and 1986 Euros thereafter, in addition to the 1978 Summer Olympics in Paris. France's ability to host a major sporting competition was not in doubt, especially after the transition to democracy in France between 1990-93, but previous efforts to host a World Cup had fallen short; France was denied in favor of Netherlands in 1976, Italy in 1992, and Germany in 2000, regarded as France's strongest bid. By the early 2000s, the idea of a "Coupe Centenniale" in France for the 100th anniversary of the inaugural cup was gaining steam, especially after the awarding of the 2008 World Cup to the United States meant that it would be at least twelve years before the next European Cup, a gap only previously matched due to the 1956 edition's cancellation due to [CENSORED]. However, following the "Oriental Chic" decade of the 1990s and China's remarkable economic growth during that decade, and assumptions that the severe debt and currency crises of the early 2000s would have resolved themselves by decade's end, built a substantial groundswell of support at FIFA for awarding the 2012 hosting duties to China (who had initially hoped for 2008 and lost out to the United States) and the romance of a centennial Cup in France four years later.
While Britain bid against China, Australia and Asian footballing power Korea for the 2012 Cup, France only faced Spain and Morocco for the 2016 edition after French Football Federation officials elected not to try against what would be more difficult competition following heartbreaks in 1992 and 2000. Morocco later switched their bid to the 2012 Cup, assuming (correctly) that they would have no chance against European competition if a country in Asia or Oceania hosted the 2012 event. Spain later cut a deal with France to support their bid for the 2016 World Cup if France would support Madrid's planned 2018 Olympic bid and, eventually, a Spanish Euros bid (which would be the 2022 Euros); this "Perpignan Pact" meant that France, by June of 2005, was the sole bidder for the 2016 World Cup left standing and would win be default just as it kicked off hosting the 2005 FIFA Women's World Cup and showing its infrastructural ability, much as the 1993 Rugby World Cup had been hoped to be the launchpad for hosting the 2000 World Cup finals. China and France were awarded hosting duties for 2012 and 2016 in the same ceremony shortly thereafter, and the centennial nature of France's hosting was a major theme of its planning and preparation as the World Cup returned to French soil after a hundred years, an agonizingly long wait for the French.
Infrastructure
France presented to FIFA a list of fourteen stadia that was, in 2008, narrowed down to twelve, with several remodels and three new-builds on the offing. The centerpiece would of course be the Stade de France in Saint-Denis immediately on the city limits of Paris, which would host the opening match and the final; the third-place game would be held in Marseille's Stade Velodrome. Additional stadia would include the Parc des Princes in Paris, new stadiums in Lyon, Lille and Bordeaux, and smaller stadia in Liege, Saint-Etienne, Lens, Montpelier, Toulouse, and Nantes.
Paris-Roissy would see a new satellite concourse added in addition to the one already planned as part of the eastwards expansion of Terminal 2's long haul capacity, while Marseille and Bordeaux would see entirely new airport terminals built in major expansions. France's high-speed rail network, which connected Paris to Lyon and Liege, would see additional lines opened up, with the extension to Marseille finally completed, the Tours line extended all the way to Bordeaux, and the extension of the Lille-Liege segment towards the Dutch border to allow international HSR trains. New commuter rail expansions were planned in Paris, as were metro station improvements, and a series of light-rail systems in Lille, Bordeaux and Lyon. Shortly after her election to the French Presidency in September 2005, Martine Aubry laid out the "Plan Centennial," in which France would build a thousand new hotel rooms per year for the next decade, two thousand new units of social housing, and invest billions in road infrastructure ahead of the tournament to absorb visitors, athletes, and construction workers over that period of time. With an unusually long time before the tournament to prepare, and with the Cup being seen as a potential stimulus for France's struggling economy in the mid-2000s, the transformative aspect of what the French sought out to accomplish was second to only China's grandiose plans for 2012.
Host Selection
The 2016 FIFA World Cup was awarded to France on June 12th, 2005, at the FIFA Congress in Barbados, simultaneously with the 2012 edition's awarding to China.
France was the host of the 1916 inaugural World Cup but since then had not hosted it again, despite being one of Europe's major footballing nations; it hosted the 1950 Western European Championships, a precursor to the Euros, and then the 1966 and 1986 Euros thereafter, in addition to the 1978 Summer Olympics in Paris. France's ability to host a major sporting competition was not in doubt, especially after the transition to democracy in France between 1990-93, but previous efforts to host a World Cup had fallen short; France was denied in favor of Netherlands in 1976, Italy in 1992, and Germany in 2000, regarded as France's strongest bid. By the early 2000s, the idea of a "Coupe Centenniale" in France for the 100th anniversary of the inaugural cup was gaining steam, especially after the awarding of the 2008 World Cup to the United States meant that it would be at least twelve years before the next European Cup, a gap only previously matched due to the 1956 edition's cancellation due to [CENSORED]. However, following the "Oriental Chic" decade of the 1990s and China's remarkable economic growth during that decade, and assumptions that the severe debt and currency crises of the early 2000s would have resolved themselves by decade's end, built a substantial groundswell of support at FIFA for awarding the 2012 hosting duties to China (who had initially hoped for 2008 and lost out to the United States) and the romance of a centennial Cup in France four years later.
While Britain bid against China, Australia and Asian footballing power Korea for the 2012 Cup, France only faced Spain and Morocco for the 2016 edition after French Football Federation officials elected not to try against what would be more difficult competition following heartbreaks in 1992 and 2000. Morocco later switched their bid to the 2012 Cup, assuming (correctly) that they would have no chance against European competition if a country in Asia or Oceania hosted the 2012 event. Spain later cut a deal with France to support their bid for the 2016 World Cup if France would support Madrid's planned 2018 Olympic bid and, eventually, a Spanish Euros bid (which would be the 2022 Euros); this "Perpignan Pact" meant that France, by June of 2005, was the sole bidder for the 2016 World Cup left standing and would win be default just as it kicked off hosting the 2005 FIFA Women's World Cup and showing its infrastructural ability, much as the 1993 Rugby World Cup had been hoped to be the launchpad for hosting the 2000 World Cup finals. China and France were awarded hosting duties for 2012 and 2016 in the same ceremony shortly thereafter, and the centennial nature of France's hosting was a major theme of its planning and preparation as the World Cup returned to French soil after a hundred years, an agonizingly long wait for the French.
Infrastructure
France presented to FIFA a list of fourteen stadia that was, in 2008, narrowed down to twelve, with several remodels and three new-builds on the offing. The centerpiece would of course be the Stade de France in Saint-Denis immediately on the city limits of Paris, which would host the opening match and the final; the third-place game would be held in Marseille's Stade Velodrome. Additional stadia would include the Parc des Princes in Paris, new stadiums in Lyon, Lille and Bordeaux, and smaller stadia in Liege, Saint-Etienne, Lens, Montpelier, Toulouse, and Nantes.
Paris-Roissy would see a new satellite concourse added in addition to the one already planned as part of the eastwards expansion of Terminal 2's long haul capacity, while Marseille and Bordeaux would see entirely new airport terminals built in major expansions. France's high-speed rail network, which connected Paris to Lyon and Liege, would see additional lines opened up, with the extension to Marseille finally completed, the Tours line extended all the way to Bordeaux, and the extension of the Lille-Liege segment towards the Dutch border to allow international HSR trains. New commuter rail expansions were planned in Paris, as were metro station improvements, and a series of light-rail systems in Lille, Bordeaux and Lyon. Shortly after her election to the French Presidency in September 2005, Martine Aubry laid out the "Plan Centennial," in which France would build a thousand new hotel rooms per year for the next decade, two thousand new units of social housing, and invest billions in road infrastructure ahead of the tournament to absorb visitors, athletes, and construction workers over that period of time. With an unusually long time before the tournament to prepare, and with the Cup being seen as a potential stimulus for France's struggling economy in the mid-2000s, the transformative aspect of what the French sought out to accomplish was second to only China's grandiose plans for 2012.
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