Stutters in England’s 2018 FIFA world cup bid.
FIFA’s 22-member executive committee will vote for the 2018 and 2022 world cup hosts on 2 December. England is among the four contenders bidding to host the event in 2018. Last time around, England’s bid to host the 2006 FIFA world cup ended in disappointment.
The campaigners were criticized for being over confident and the slogan “Football’s coming home” seemed boastful to say the least. The English Football Association (FA) has tried not to repeat its previous mistakes, but England’s campaign has been struck by
a few undesired controversies.
England’s bid to host the event suffered a major setback when an English newspaper investigation alleged FIFA of corruption. The investigation carried out by the Sunday Times revealed that two members of FIFA’s executive board, Amos Adamu of Nigeria and
Rynald Temaii from Tahiti, were ready to sell their vote. The English press and FIFA have never had good relations, so such reports could be seen as yet another attack on FIFA by the English media, and have the potential to hamper England’s bid. After conducting
its own investigation, FIFA banned the two disgraced members, reducing the number of voting members from 24 to 22.
Furthermore, the BBC plans to air the Panorama Documentary which investigates corruption within FIFA. The BBC is set to broadcast this documentary titled ‘FIFA’s Dirty Secrets’ less than three days before the executive committee casts its votes. Government
officials and England’s bid team are pressuring the BBC to cancel the show as it poses a threat to the country’s bid to host the prestigious event.
It’s not just the press however, that’s giving England’s campaigners sleepless nights. They also face a potential threat from the unlikeliest of sources – Wimbledon. FIFA inspectors have pointed out that the clash of dates between the two events would result
in competition. The report states, “It is a FIFA requirement that no other major sporting event is hosted in a host city during the event period, and the fact that the Wimbledon Tennis Championships take place in London during late June/early July, could have
an impact on the public attention given to the FIFA World Cup.”
The inspectors have also highlighted the issue of a lack of hotel rooms and training facilities in their report. The report on England says, "The bidder has not contracted the required number of venue-specific training sites or venue-specific team hotels."
The report continues, "The fact that not many of the rooms have been contracted in full compliance with FIFA's template hotel agreement requires further analysis and potentially renegotiation. FIFA could be exposed to excessive pricing."
Despite these issues, investigators have given England a ‘low risk’ rating, where as leading rivals Russia have been given a ‘medium-risk’ rating due to the lack of stadiums and unsatisfactory transport system.
England will be hoping to overpower bids submitted by Russia, Belgium and Netherlands, and Spain and Portugal. England has acknowledged Russia as its main rival. Joint bids by Belgium/Netherlands and Spain/Portugal have actually served to weaken the overall
bids, rather than proving to be an advantage. FIFA’s reports on both bids have pointed out potential security issues; so on paper these bids do not pose a major threat to England.
Holding the event in Russia however will enable FIFA to reach out to the Asian and European markets, as Russia shares a border with both continents. Also, FIFA’s report on Russia states that as opposed to England, there will be no issues regarding training
facilities and hotels in Russia.
England is hoping to earn billions of pounds by hosting the 2018 world cup, which is why figures like David Beckham, Prince William and David Cameron have come forward to promote England’s bid. Despite controversies and issues pointed out by FIFA’s report,
England will be hoping to bring the event home for the first time in more than fifty years.
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