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Editorial May 2010
Soccerphile Editorial - May 2010
Careless talk costs World Cups
Bar the World Cup in South Africa, England's most important football engagement this year will be on 2nd December, when the host nations for the 2018 and 2022 World cup will be revealed.
A total of eleven countries originally put forward proposals to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022, but England is now in a race with just five another bidders to host the tournament in 2018. Of these, the USA held the competition as recently as 1994, while Holland/Belgium and Portugal (bidding for the World Cup jointly with Spain) have all staged European Championships in the 21st Century. Australia is a sporting juggernaut, yet has never held football's greatest tournament. Russia has emerged from being the dark horse to stage 2018 to becoming firm favourite.
With strong suggestions around that Europe is the chosen continent to stage the 2018 competition, England is one of the front runners. However damaging recent comments by the Football Association Chairman Lord Triesman has thrown a huge spanner in the works. England now has its work cut out to convince FIFA it is a best choice of all these countries to host a World Cup and it will take more than a 1752 page book and a smiling David Beckham to do that.
By Fifa President Sepp Blatter's own admission, England is the "motherland of football" and if the World Cup was awarded on history alone, they would surely be the selected nation. England can also point to the present and future to make their case as being the strongest bidder for 2018.
Of all the nations in the hat for 2018, England's vision of the 2018 tournament is the clearest to picture in the here and now. 17 stadiums would be used during the competition, only four stadiums are not built currently. In contrast, 2018 favourites Russia would only have five stadia for the tournament completed by 2013.
England will be old hands at staging major sporting events by 2018, with a series of major sporting events, including the Ryder Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games, Rugby League World Cup and Rugby Union World Cup being held in the UK before that date. The massive improvements that are currently being made to transport infrastructure, ahead of the 2012 Olympics, again mean facilities would be ready to stage a World Cup far quicker than in any other country.
From a financial point of view, England offers FIFA the opportunity to generate the greatest ever revenue from a World Cup tournament. South Africa is expected to generate £2.1bn in TV and sponsorship revenue, but estimates for a potential World Cup in England is that this figure could rise to £3bn. £3bn is greater than any other projected host could potentially raise and in global sport, money talks.
England is home to the most popular league in the world, with the Premiership watched in 200 countries globally. The ability to run such an excellent league is a superb advert for England's ability to organise a World Cup. Security at sporting areas is amongst the best in the world, as are the training facilities and accommodation available to visiting teams.
But all these positive aspects, which make England the strongest bidder to host the World Cup on paper, count for nothing if the Football Association cannot execute its bid properly. Or worse still, if the FA become its own worst enemy.
Comments from Lord Triesman have struck a major blow to England's chances of staging the tournament. A transcription of an indiscreet conversation he had with a former civil service colleague was published in the press, in which Treisman spoke of a collusion between the Spanish and Russian Football Associations to bribe referees at this summer's World Cup. Those remarks have rocked the whole of world football, let alone Soho Square.
Triesman had no choice but to resign from his position, but the damage to England's World Cup bid has been done. FIFA's executive committee members have both a Spanish and Russian representative, who will be appalled by Treisman's remarks.
This isn't the first major gaffe from England's 2018 team either. Back in October, they sent Mulberry handbags to the 24 wives of the FIFA executive committee, which caused controversy and questions whether these gifts were appropriate. At the same time, FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner dismissed England's bid as 'lightweight' and West Ham United director Karen Brady resigned from the 2018 bid team, in the wake of what she described as 'bickering, infighting and disruption'.
Sir Alex Ferguson has previously branded the Football Association as being 'dysfunctional' and Triesman's comments, topped by Karen Brady and Jack Warner's criticisms, support this damaging opinion.
The FA have been quick to react to the problems caused by Lord Triesman's comments, installing Geoff Thompson as its new chairman. Lord Sebastian Coe is also understood to have briefed FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke about Triesman's remarks and will speak with Sepp Blatter too.
The damage has been done though. Much of the hard work to promote the 2018 bid is now in tatters and a nation, that has everything going for its aspirations of becoming a World Cup host on paper, may well have blown its chance to host the tournament through its own stupidity.
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