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2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids

The bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, the 21st and 22nd editions of the FIFA World Cup, is currently underway. The bidding procedure to host both World Cups began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest.The twenty-two member FIFA Executive Committee will vote to select the two hosts on 2 December 2010.Candidates have applied for either or both of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, but the 2022 hosts will not be chosen from the same continent as the 2018 hosts.

Currently, there are seven individual nations which have registered their intention with FIFA to bid for the right to host one of the two tournaments: Australia, England, Japan, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. Additionally, Belgium and the Netherlands registered to bid together, as did Portugal and Spain.Mexico also submitted a bid, but withdrew it in September 2009. Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 as its government could not guarantee full support. While most nations bid for either tournament, Qatar and South Korea submitted bids for 2022 only,and Japan, Australia, and the United States who all originally bid for either tournament, withdrew their 2018 bids in favour of concentrating on 2022.This means that all the remaining bids for 2018 are from European countries, and in accordance with the rotation rules, that the 2022 tournament will be played outside Europe.

In October 2007, FIFA ended its continental rotation policy. Instead countries that are members of the same confederation as either of the last two tournament hosts are ineligible, leaving Africa ineligible for 2018 and South America ineligible for both 2018 and 2022.Other factors in the selection process include the number of suitable stadiums, and their location across candidate nations. Voting is done using a multiple round exhaustive ballot system whereby the candidate receiving the fewest votes in each round is eliminated until a single candidate is chosen by the majority.

Current bids for 2018

Eleven bids were submitted in March 2009 covering thirteen nations, with two joint bids: Belgium-Netherlands and Portugal-Spain. Mexico also submitted a bid, but withdrew theirs on 28 September 2009, while Indonesia had their bid rejected for lack of government support on 19 March 2010.Five of the remaining nine bids, South Korea, Qatar, Japan, Australia and United States are only for the 2022 World Cup, while all the others are bidding for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.However, since all of the bids for the 2018 World Cup are from European nations, and FIFA's rules dictate that countries belonging to confederations that hosted either of the two preceding tournaments are not eligible to host, all of these bids are now forced to be for 2018 only. Four bids come from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), four from Europe's UEFA, and one from CONCACAF. It had also been reported on the FIFA website that Egypt was entering a bid, but the president of the Egyptian Football Association denied that any more than an inquiry in principle had been made.The number of bids received meant that the 2018 World Cup is the most contested bid in FIFA's history.

England

On 31 October 2007, The Football Association officially announced that it will bid to host the event.On 24 April 2008 England finalised a 63-page bid to host the 2018 World Cup, focusing on the development of football worldwide.On 27 January 2009, England officially submitted their bid to FIFA.Richard Caborn will lead England's bid to stage the 2018 World Cup after stepping down as Sports Minister.On 24 October 2008 the Football Association named the Executive Board to prepare the bid, with David Triesman as the bid chairman.Triesman resigned on 16 May 2010 after comments were published where he suggested that Spain would drop their bid if Russia helped bribe referees in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and was then replaced by Geoff Thompson.

The British government is backing the England 2018 bid. In November 2005, Chancellor Gordon Brown and Sport Minister Tessa Jowell first announced that they were to investigate the possibility of bidding.That month, Adrian Bevington, the Football Association's Director of Communications, announced the support of the Government and the Treasury in the bid, but put off definite proposals.Brown reiterated his support for a bid in March 2006, before England's 2006 World Cup campaign,[32] and again in May 2006.The UK government launched its official report on 12 February 2007, in which it was made clear that its support was for an England-only bid and that all games would be played at English grounds.The venues selected on 16 December 2009 to form the bid were: London (three stadiums), Manchester (two stadiums), Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield and Sunderland.

FIFA officials have also expressed interest in an English bid. David Will, a vice-president of FIFA, noted England's World Cup proposal as early as May 2004.[36] Franz Beckenbauer, leader of Germany's successful bid for the 2006 World Cup and a member of FIFA's Executive Committee, has twice publicly backed an English bid to host the World Cup, in January and July 2007.FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said he would welcome a 2018 bid from "the homeland of football."Blatter has met with David Cameron on two occasions to discuss the bid while paying visits to England. The British Prime Minister has shown much support for the bid and is hopeful that the home of football should host the tournament.England has previously hosted the 1966 World Cup which it won and Euro '96, as well as previously bidding for the 2006 World Cup. Should England succeed, it would be the sixth nation to host the World Cup for a second time.

Belgium and the Netherlands

Alain Courtois, a Belgian Member of Parliament, announced in October 2006 that a formal bid would be made on behalf of the three Benelux countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.[17] In June 2007 the three countries launched their campaign not as a joint bid in the manner of the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002, but emphasizing it as a common political organization.Luxembourg would not host any matches or automatically qualify for the finals in a successful Benelux bid, but would host a FIFA congress.

Belgium and the Netherlands registered their intention to bid jointly in March 2009.A delegation led by the presidents of the Belgian and Dutch national football associations met FIFA president Sepp Blatter on 14 November 2007, officially announcing their interest in submitting a joint bid.On 19 March 2008 the delegation also met with UEFA President Michel Platini to convince him that it was a serious offer under one management. Afterwards they claimed to have impressed Platini, who supports the idea of getting the World Cup to Europe.Former French football international Christian Karembeu was presented as official counselor for the joint bid on 23 June 2009.

A factor that is against the Benelux bid is the lack of an 80,000 capacity stadium to host the final.However, the city council of Rotterdam gave permission in March 2009 for development of a new stadium with a capacity of around 80,000 seats to be completed in time for the possible World Cup in 2018. In November 2009, the venues were presented. In Belgium, matches would be played in 7 venues: Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Charleroi, Genk, Ghent and Liège. In the Netherlands, only five cities would host matches: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Enschede, Heerenveen and Rotterdam, but both Amsterdam and Rotterdam will provide two stadiums. Eindhoven will function as the 'capital city' of the World Cup.Euro 2000 was also jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.

Portugal and Spain

The President of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Gilberto Madail, first proposed a joint bid with Spain in November 2007.The bid intent was confirmed by FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, on 18 February 2008.However, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Angel Villar, announced in July 2008 that it was Spain's intention to submit an individual World Cup bid, and that positive contacts had already taken place with the government, through the secretary of sports, Jaime Lissavetzky. No specifications were made then regarding a joint bid with Portugal.On 23 November 2008, after his re-election for the RFEF presidency, Villar pledged that one of the fundamental objectives of his term would be to bring a World Cup to Spain. While he did not mention whether Spain would present a joint bid with Portugal, he did not rule it out when asked about it.

On 23 December 2008, Angel Villar restated "We need to present a strong, consistent and winning bid for the 2018 World Cup." He further confessed "Personally, I think it should be with Portugal."Subsequently, in the aftermath of a RFEF meeting board, Spain and Portugal announced their intention to bid together. Spanish sports newspaper Marca advanced some details about the potential bid: Spain would lead a twelve-stadium project with eight of the venues, and the opening and final games would be held in Lisbon and Madrid, respectively.Spain has previously hosted the 1982 World Cup, while Portugal organized the Euro 2004. If the Portuguese-Spanish joint bid succeeds, Spain would become the sixth nation to host the World Cup for a second time.

Russia

Russia announced its intent to bid in early 2009, and submitted its request to FIFA in time.Russia's Prime Minister and former President Vladimir Putin has taken a keen interest in the bid and has gone so far as ordering Vitaly Mutko, the Minister of Sports, to "prepare a bid for Russia to hold the 2018 World Cup". According to a report earlier submitted by Vitaly Mutko, who also served that time as President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), the country is ready to spend some $10 billion on the tournament.The bid committee also includes RFU CEO Alexey Sorokin and Alexander Djordjadze as the Director of Bid Planning and Operations.

Fourteen cities are included in the current proposal, which divides them into five different clusters: one in the north, centered on St. Petersburg, a central cluster, centered on Moscow, a southern cluster, centered on Sochi, and the Volga River cluster. Only one city beyond the Ural Mountains is cited, Yekaterinburg. The other cities are: Kaliningrad in the north cluster, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar in the south cluster and Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Saransk, Samara and Volgograd in the Volga River cluster.The country does not currently have a stadium with 80,000 capacity, but the bid calls for the expansion of Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, already a UEFA Elite stadium, from a capacity of slightly over 78,000 to over 89,000. Russia hopes to have five stadiums fit to host World Cup matches ready by 2013 – two in Moscow and one stadium each in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi, which is due to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Current bids for 2022

Australia

In September 2007, the Football Federation Australia confirmed that Australia would bid for the 2018 World Cup finals.Previously, in late May 2006, the Victorian sports minister, Justin Madden, said that he wanted his state to drive a bid to stage the 2018 World Cup.[55] Frank Lowy, the FFA chairman, has stated that they are aiming to use 16 stadiums for the bid.Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the Federal Government's support for the bid,and in December 2008, Federal minister for sport Kate Ellis announced that the federal government would give the FFA $45.6 million to fund its World Cup bid preparation.Rudd met with Sepp Blatter to discuss the Commonwealth Government's support of the bid in Zurich in July 2009.

At the 2008 FIFA Congress, held in Sydney, FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested that Australia concentrate on hosting the 2022 tournament,but Lowy responded by recommitting Australia to its 2018 bid.However, Australia ultimately withdrew from the bidding for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in favour of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on 10 June 2010, following comments from the chief of the Asian Football Confederation that the 2018 tournament should be held in Europe.

One possible stumbling block to the bid is that almost all of Australia's largest stadiums are used by other major Australian sports whose domestic seasons overlap with the World Cup. The Australian Football League and National Rugby League claim that loss of access to almost all their major venues for eight weeks would severely disrupt their seasons and even impact the viability of their clubs.The AFL in particular has advised it will not give up Etihad Stadium in Melbourne for the entire period required.Compensation claims for the disrupted seasons of the local codes may run into several hundred million Australian dollars. The AFL and NRL and possibly also the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) will lobby for equity from the government. The AFL, NRL, and FFA announced it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 9 May 2010, guaranteeing the AFL and NRL seasons will continue, should the bid be successful, and compensation for the rival football codes may be awarded as a result of any disruptions caused by hosting the World Cup.

Previously, Australia has hosted several football tournaments. The FIFA U-20 World Cup has twice been held in Australia, in 1981 and 1993, as has the Olympic football tournament (1956 and 2000). Australia has also hosted the OFC Nations Cup twice (1998 and 2004). Australia has also enjoyed success hosting other major sporting events recently, with the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne and the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Australia will co-host the 2015 Cricket World Cup and are the sole bidder to host the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Japan

Japan is bidding to become the first Asian country to host the World Cup twice; however, the fact that they were co-hosts so recently in 2002 is expected to work against them in their bid.Although Japan does not currently have an 80,000-seat capacity stadium, its plan was based on a proposed 100,000-seat stadium that would have gone on to be a centrepiece of 2016 Olympics, for which Tokyo was bidding. The Olympic bid was unsuccessful, coming third in the bidding process that concluded in October 2009. The Vice-President of the Japan Football Association, Junji Ogura, had previously admitted that if Tokyo were to fail in its bid, its chances of hosting either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup would not be very good.On 4 May 2010, Japan announced that it was withdrawing its bid for the 2018 tournament to focus on 2022, amidst rising speculation that the 2018 edition will be held in Europe.Japan will also host the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Qatar

Qatar, with a population of just over 1.6 million people, has made a bid for only the 2022 World Cup.Qatar is attempting to become the first Arab nation to host the World Cup.Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, son of the present Emir of Qatar, is the chairman of the bid committee.Qatar is planning to promote this bid as an Arab unity bid and hope to draw on support from the entire Arab world, and are positioning this as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the Arab and Western worlds.The bid launched an advertising campaign across the nation in November 2009.

Some concerns with Qatar's bid deal with the extreme temperatures.The World Cup is always held in the European off-season in June and July, and during this period the average daytime high in most of Qatar is in excess of 40°C (104°F), with the average daily low temperatures not dropping below 30°C (86°F).Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the 2022 Qatar bid chairman, responded saying "the event has to be organized in June or July. We will have to take the help of technology to counter the harsh weather. We have already set in motion the process. A stadium with controlled temperature is the answer to the problem. We have other plans up our sleeves as well."The first five proposed stadiums are planned to employ cooling technology capable of reducing temperatures within the stadium by up to 20 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the upper tiers of the stadiums will be disassembled after the World Cup and donated to countries with less developed sports infrastructure.

President of FIFA Sepp Blatter endorsed the idea of having a World Cup in the Middle East, saying in April 2010, "The Arabic world deserves a World Cup. They have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organise the tournament." Blatter also praised Qatar's progress, "When I was first in Qatar there were 400,000 people here and now there are 1.6 million. In terms of infrastructure, when you are able to organise the Asian Games (in 2006) with more than 30 events for men and women, then that is not in question."Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup has recently received a huge boost on 28 July 2010 when Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohammed Bin Hammam threw his weight behind his country's campaign. Speaking in Singapore, Bin Hammam said: "I have one vote and, frankly speaking, I will vote for Qatar, but if Qatar is not in the running I will vote for another Asian country."Qatar has already hosted the AFC Asian Cup in 1988 & FIFA U-20 World Cup 1995. Additionally, Qatar is due to host the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

South Korea

Like fellow 2002 co-host Japan, South Korea has entered the bidding process, albeit only for the 2022 World Cup. They are bidding to become the first Asian country to host the World Cup twice; however, the fact that they were co-hosts so recently in 2002 is expected to work against them in their bid. Han Seung-Joo, a former South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs, was appointed as the Chairman of the Bidding Committee in August 2009.He has since met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zürich, Switzerland.In January 2010, the president Lee Myung-bak visited the headquarter of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland to meet Sepp Blatter in support of the South Korean bid.

Although South Korea does not currently have an 80,000 capacity stadium, it could upgrade an existing venue to meet that capacity. There are three grounds which can seat over 60,000 people—Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul World Cup Stadium and Daegu Stadium. Another 70,000 seat stadium is scheduled to be built in Incheon as the main stadium for the 2014 Asian Games. And other venues meet hosting requirements as they were built for the 2002 World Cup.The 12 Cities selected to hold the finals should South Korea win the bid were selected in March 2010 are Busan, Cheonan, Daegu, Daejeon, Goyang, Gwangju, Incheon (2 Venues), Jeonju, Jeju, Seoul (2 Venues), Suwon and Ulsan.

United States

U.S. Soccer first said in February 2007 that it would put forth a bid for the 2018 World Cup.On 28 January 2009, U.S. Soccer announced that it would submit bids for both the 2018 and 2022 Cups.David Downs, president of Univision Sports, is executive director of the bid. Other committee members include president of U.S. Soccer Sunil Gulati, U.S. Soccer chief executive officer Dan Flynn, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, and Phil Murphy, the former national finance chair for the Democratic National Committee.[84] The vice president of FIFA, Jack Warner, who is also the president of CONCACAF, originally said he would try to bring the World Cup back to the CONCACAF region.However, Warner also stated that he would prefer if the USSF changed their plans to make a bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.In April 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama wrote a letter to FIFA President Sepp Blatter in support of the U.S. bid, and then met with him in July 2009.

In April 2009, the bid committee identified 70 stadiums in 50 communities as possible venues for the tournament, with 58 confirming their interest.The list of stadiums was trimmed two months later to 45 in 37 cites,[91] and then in August 2009 to 32 stadiums in 27 cites.In January 2010, 18 cities and 21 stadiums were selected for the final bid. The cities are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington DC. The cities with multiple qualifying stadiums are Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas and Washington, D.C. With several large American football stadiums, the 21 venues have an average capacity of 77,000, and none seat fewer than 65,000. Seven of the stadiums seat at least 80,000.American football would not conflict with World Cup scheduling, as its season begins in late August, after World Cup competition, although two proposed stadiums would be used by Major League Soccer during the summer.

In October 2010 it was announced that the United States was withdrawing from the 2018 bid process, to focus solely on the 2022 competition.This meant that it was now guaranteed that the 2018 World Cup would be hosted in Europe.

The United States previously hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which set financial and attendance records.Every CONCACAF Gold Cup (two jointly hosted with Mexico) has been held in the United States, and both the 1999 and 2003 FIFA Women's World Cups were held in the country.