The material in those "phone books" would go a long way towards determining whether the United States would receive the go-ahead to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Federation officials, including President Werner Fricker, were optimistic the 381-page document would.
At a press gathering in New York City, Fricker said he felt the U.S.'s chances were "excellent" after the Federation spent $500,000 on the bid up until then. The USSF had learned well its lesson from its hurried 1983 bid to host the 1986 World Cup after Colombia dropped out; Mexico was selected as host. For the 1994 bid, nothing was left unturned. All of the I’s were dotted and the t’s crossed.
This is a timeline of how the final bidding process and the FIFA Executive Committee’s decision transpired at the Movenpick Hotel:
9 a.m. -- The FIFA Executive Committee began its session in the Regulus Room. The committee held a draw to determine the order of the final presentations. Three plastic eggshells were placed in an oversized brandy sifter. The order: Brazil, Morocco and the United States.
The committee also outlined the procedure it would follow through the next four hours. "We struck fairly rigidly to it," says FIFA senior vice president Harry Cavan, who chaired the meeting. FIFA president Dr. Joao Havelange, a Brazilian, did not chair the meeting or vote so there would be no conflict of interest.
The committee received a report from the technical committee and took a break to read it.
10 a.m. -- The Brazilian delegation, including Brazilian Football Confederation President Octavio Pinto Guimares and confederation administrator Moacir Peralta, gave its presentation. Each delegation was limited to 30 minutes.
Cavan later said, "We had quite a bit of emotion collectively from all three, least of all from the United States."
The U.S. delegation, Cavan added, was "very level voiced, very quietly put and very effectively put."
10:40 a.m. -- The Moroccan delegation, including minister of sport Abdellatif Semlali, met with the committee.
Semlali said he urged FIFA to continue helping the development of soccer in Third World countries. "I tried to prove that the United States does not need such competitions," he said. "They have so many already."
11:25 a.m. -- The U.S. delegation was called in and gave a 22-minute presentation, including a two-minute speech on video tape by President Ronald Reagan.
