World Cup bid season is in full effect, with FIFA delegations visiting the bidding nations to assess stadiums, infrastructure, and the like. Nothing with FIFA can be assumed to be on the up and up, but the process seems pretty straightforward - each nation takes the bigwigs around to a few venues, shows them the requisite good time, and the delegates head back to Zurich to mull over who should get the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.


The United States' turn is coming September, but for now it's Europe that's showing off. England and Russia are the main combatants for the 2018 bid, and FIFA's assessors are touring the former as we speak. But it's the latter that concerns us today; Russia is player, and Sepp is making sure to let everyone know what the world's biggest country brings to the table:

"You cannot deny Russia if they bid for something. They are more than a country. They are a big continent, a big power."

A big power, sure. But a big power where racist banners are hung in the ground of one of the capital city's clubs long enough to be photographed. Per Daryl of World Cup Blog comes this image from a Lokomotiv Moscow match over the weekend:

I'll admit it's difficult for me to swallow the visceral reaction I'm having to this image, and the resulting vitriol I want to spew in the direction of the Russian bid. But I'm with Daryl. Russia should under no circumstances receive a World Cup as long as racist behavior like the above is tolerated at Russian Premier League stadium, whether it's for five minutes or two hours. In fact, if Sepp had any stones whatsoever, he should make clear that Russia's bid will suffer because of the Lokomotiv Moscow fans. I'll leave aside for now the deeper issue of apparent latent racism in Russia, something on which I'm not informed enough to write.


FIFA is coming off a successful World Cup in a nation that suffered through Apartheid for decades. South Africa, despite the concerns voiced during the buildup, put on a great tournament that stood as a symbol for how far the country has come and the promise it holds. Nelson Mandela's presence at the final was a sign of South African pride and unity for the whole world to see, and did the country good; taking a World Cup just eight years later to a place where banners like the above fly in the year 2010 makes a mockery of everything we saw this summer.


I truly, truly, hope FIFA's not stupid enough to make that mistake.


England for 2018. And than the US for 2022, naturally.