If this is to stand any chance of success, the group stage at least has to be regionalised. If not, you could be in Dublin for one game, Baku the game after and ending in Bilbao.
I had no idea they had gone that far in the planning. Fair enough and just a quick easy jet flight away then. Still not convinced it will work as a tournament, just seems a bit disjointed to me, but I'm happy to give it a chance.
Why does it have to be regionalised? Regardless of where you are based its unlikely the flight to the next game will be more than 4 hours. You could actually base your team at their home training complex and just fly out for the games, meaning less disruption and better preparation for all teams.
A bit of pointless sarcasm, but fair enough, didn't think of it that way. Not that I am a fan of world cups in USA or Russia, but for many bigger reasons than distance between cities. To be honest, one thing that can make a tournament is the fact that a single country gets to showcase itself, I just think that this element will be missing and I do wonder whether the tournament may lack a bit of identity. On the other hand, if england do well (please spare me more sarcasm) then it will effectively become home advantage. Something to motivate the players.
It will be cheaper to fly out to Europe, have a night in a hotel and take in a game than go by train to London, spend a night in a hotel and go to a gane at Wembley. Better and cheaper food and beer in most places as well.
I like it. No issues with logistics to be fair and loads more people will get to see games. It's a pity Stockholm didn't get a game from a personal point of view but hey ho.
