England
England and the English FA have made it very clear that they can deliver the World Cup which would be profitable, a great event that would be followed by the best and the most enthusiastic fans in the world, and are so confident
that they say that they can easily host the mega event any given day.
But England seem to have learnt from their mistakes from the failed bid to host the tournament in 2006 when they overused the term ‘this is the home of football’ and this time, have given FIFA an option (an easier one) to bring
the cup to Europe.
England was a clear favorite in the running but the chances took a hit after a recent Sunday newspaper claim that 2 of the FIFA executive committee members would accept bribes to vote for England. Then, the BBC released a documentary
in their program Panorama in which another executive committee member was accused of accepting bribes 15 years ago.
Sepp Blatter will definitely not be amused by the recent scandals around the England bid and the architects of England’s bid, David Beckham and David Cameron will try their best to pacify the situation and bring the Cup home.
Scandals are a part of every bidding campaign and England, by now must be used to accusations of such magnitude. But England has a very good chance of hosting the event in 2018.
The English bidding team has already promised a record turnover to FIFA that amounts to more than £180 million if they win the bid to host the event.
And this promise is not hollow at all and they can easily deliver FIFA great profit. According to the bidding committee’s forecast, all the stadiums would be at least 94% full in all 64 matches and so, will generate a huge profit
of £602 million through ticket sales.
After the recent swathes of empty seats in the recent World Cup in South Africa, FIFA would definitely acknowledge the guarantee of full seats in even the most drab and dullest of encounters.
In a recent report, it was stated that over 30 million people attend the English Premier League games every season and almost 7 million people play football weekly in England. And it is not only the local English who are mad about
English football; more than 2 billion people follow the English Premier League every week.
After having two novice host, firstly in South Africa and then in Brazil for 2014, FIFA would want to give the hosting rights to a country that has a greater infrastructure and moreover, has good transportation along with less
time-consuming distances between the host cities.
But the England bid has been surrounded with a lot of controversy, starting from the resignation of Lord Triesman, who was the initial head of the bidding team. The Sunday Times then reported on the corrupt practices during the
bidding campaign and then BBC Panorama exposed another FIFA executive committee member who allegedly agreed to vote for the England bidding team if he was given money. These scandalous events that have transpired only 3 days before the voting process might
be a huge blow to the England bidding team and might also be the only reason for the failure to land the tournament in England.
England 2018 Bid Star
England bidding team is very lucky to have David Beckham in their team. The former England Captain is a national and world icon and was a very popular figure when the bid book was handed down to FIFA.
David Beckham was one of the most influential figures in the 2012 London Olympics bid team which successfully landed the Olympics and his experience and iconic status will be a key factor if England is to bring the World Cup 2018
home.
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