Russia, Qatar get World Cups in 2018 and 2022

FIFA sent the World Cup into uncharted territory Thursday, handing the 2018 edition to Russia and going to Qatar in 2022. Russia's selection came despite the no-show of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, but his influence still had an impact on FIFA's 22 voters as the bid won over England, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands. Qatar brings the World Cup to the smallest host ever but one which has huge financial clout to stage the world's biggest single-sport event. It overcame objections about holding the games in desert heat. It beat the United States in the final round of voting 14-8.

"We go to new lands,'' FIFA President Sepp Blatter said. Often derided as a conservative organization, the decisions were a big gamble for FIFA, which could have gone for assured sporting and commercial success by handing the event to England and the United States. Yet despite some criticism in FIFA study reports last month of the Russian and Qatar bids, it decided to go deep into Eastern Europe and right into the Persian Gulf. Following corruption allegations that led to two of the 24 FIFA executive committee members being excluded from the vote, the daring decisions that challenged conventional knowledge are bound to be controversial.

England was eliminated in the first round of 2018 voting, earning only two of the 22 votes. In the second round, Russia won an absolute majority with 13 votes. "It is a great victory,'' said Russian bid CEO Alexey Sorokin, whose presentation promises to build 13 stadiums while three will be renovated. Transport logistics, however, will be a huge challenge with stadiums from northern St. Petersburg close to Finland to southern 2014 Olympic winter host Sochi close to Georgia, from Kaliningrad close to Poland to Yekaterinburg on Asia's doorstep.

Putin immediately hopped on a plane to Zurich to congratulate the bid team after hearing the result. After three days of high anxiety when England sent Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham for intense lobbying and the United States counted on the aura of former President Bill Clinton, none were a match for the novelty promised by Qatar and Russia. "Thank you for believing in change,'' said Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Qatar will stage a World Cup in and around Doha in a desert summer but promises state-of-the-art technology to cool fans and players alike.