For the 2018 tournament then, we have 6 bids, consisting of Australia, England, Russia, USA and the two joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium. Sepp Blatter (President of FIFA) frequently comes out with laughable comments and quite often contradicts his own words. But if you dare believe or even listen to what the Swiss president says, then you can whittle those 6 bids down to just 2. “I think for 2018 it will be a European candidate,” said Blatter earlier this year, while in early 2009 he stated that as long as there is a valid individual bid that “double candidacies will not be accepted.” So that would leave just England and Russia.
It would be foolish to completely discount the joint bids, but I do believe that this World Cup will come to Europe after FIFA scrapped it’s rotation policy. After World Cups in South Africa and South America - the 2014 tournament will be held in Brazil, far from renowned as a safe country that can cope with a big sporting event, let alone having the suitable stadia or resources to build them - I believe they will want to select a country that they have complete faith in and one that already has the correct safety measures in place and suitable stadiums already built.
England are the early favourites, with most of the required stadiums already in place and the passion for the English game is one like no other. Another big positive is the transport, with trains running to every host city and also airports in all the major cities, fans can transport around the country with ease. It is also long overdue, by the time the tournament comes round, it will have been over 50 years since the last World Cup here, a long time for a nation claiming to be the home of football. As for Russia, despite not yet having the suitable stadiums, they have a nice list of new venues that are to be built before the tournament and they all look impressive. Safety however, remains an issue. In 2007 England travelled to Moscow for a Euro 2008 qualifier. During their time over there, England fans repeatedly came across violence with reports of bars and hotels being attacked by the locals. This really needs addressing if they are to have a chance of hosting the 2018 finals. If joint bidding is to come into the equation, then Spain and Portugal’s bid has to be up there. Along with England, the required stadiums are mostly already in place and Portugal’s successful hosting of Euro 2004 will only go in their favour. Despite hosting Euro 2000, I believe Holland and Belgium’s bid to be too small to host a tournament of this magnitude.
It really is England’s to lose, especially after coming so close in the bidding for the 2006 World Cup. Recent comments made by the former chairman of the bid however, could do just that. Lord David Triesman was secretly taped suggesting that Spain could withdraw from the bidding if Russia agreed to bribery during this years finals. An absurd comment made by someone who really should know better. Blatter and FIFA hide no secrets when it comes to their dislike of the English game, so something like this could really damage our chances, giving them the perfect excuse to reject England’s bid.
As much as I really hope England win the hosting to the 2018 World Cup finals, I believe it will now go to Russia, with the destination of the 2022 tournament being Qatar, given the recent sudden rise of football in the middle east.
The proposed new Stadium Kazan in Russia will hold 45,000 when it is complete.
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