England to bid for 2018 World Cup - official

Not so sure about it myself - has any other country managed to host the Olympics & football WC within the space of 6 years??
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7070874.stm

£15 million is an awful lot to waste on an unsuccessful bid, they must be pretty sure they're in with half a shout of getting it.

The daft thing is, the Olympic stadium's capacity will be reduced after the games to 25,000. It seems such a waste with a bid for the W.C. in the offing.

What with Wembley and the Emirates just up the road?

The biggest problem, stadia-wise is that we have too many that could host a World Cup, not too few.

Old Trafford would undoubtedly be included, and that means a stunning stadium like Eastlands would not, despite it being bigger than most in most other countries.

I don't see the slightest problem with us being able to host a World Cup. Nothing needs to be built, the grounds are already there.

And let's face it, it's long overdue. 50 years between World Cups for the home of football, and the biggest and most powerful league on the planet? Germany and Mexico (Mexico, for heaven's sake!) have held TWO since we last held one.

I see no problem us hosting it at all.

But I think a lot of votes may go elsewhere due to greedy bastard syndrome.

e.g.... you've already got the Olympics, so you can't have this too

It will help if the Olymics are succesful - if they aren't then FIFA would be entitled to think that we couldn't organise a p1ss-up in a brewery.

Basil wrote:It will help if the Olymics are succesful - if they aren't then FIFA would be entitled to think that we couldn't organise a p1ss-up in a brewery.

The Olympics will be successful. The press who pounce upon the slightest mishap (and things are proceeding well, remember, unlike Sydney at this stage, which was hardly a flop) are the same press who regularly tell us that the latest killer-disease is going to cause the end of the world.

Well, apart from the Express, who think the death of Diana WAS the end of the world...

The Olympics will be shit on a stick.

It'll be badly organised, poorly attended, some of the facilities won't be finished, a stray turd will show up in the swimming poolm and no doubt a few suicide bombers will slip through security, who were otherwise engaged watching the 12 year-girls doing their gymnastic routines on the television and cracking one off.

And it'll rain. Or snow.

Britain shouldn't be allowed to do stuff. Should be one of the commandments.

I don't know where this myth that we're crap at organising events comes from. Euro 96 was a great success, as were the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester (which really showed up the Germans' efforts in the European athletics championships that followed shortly after I seem to remember).

Hosting the second biggest football and multi-sports events proved the big two were achievable and long overdue, and now we've got the Olympics and hopefully the World Cup will follow. Still think Australia could steal it from us though, simply because it's a part of the world that has never hosted it before.

beamer wrote:Still think Australia could steal it from us though, simply because it's a part of the world that has never hosted it before.

Australia might struggle to make the argument on that basis, given that they dumped the Oceania federation to join the Asian one, so they can only make that proposal on the basis of it being an Asian bid, rather than saying that it's never come down to that part of the world, specifically.

However, Australia would of course do a good job hosting the tournament, that's in no doubt, but I suspect that where it might struggle a bit is the match timings for the big TV markets in South America and (especially) Europe. Rightly or wrongly (wrongly in my view) these things matter, and the TV companies were less than happy with the kick-off times they had to deal with for Japan/Korea.

Afternoon kick-offs in Sydney would involve Europeans getting up in the middle of the night.

Hope we don't get it. Bunch of gayball skin heads smashing up the joint is what we don't want. It's bad enough having to put up with the Barmy Army every 4 years.

JKLever wrote:Not so sure about it myself - has any other country managed to host the Olympics & football WC within the space of 6 years??

Yes. Here is the list (may not be a complete one)

1968 summer Olympics: Mexico City
1970 Soccer WC: Mexico

1972 Summer Olympics: Munich
1974 Soccer WC: West Germany

1994 Soccer WC: USA
1996 Summer Olympics: Atlanta
2002 winter Olympics: Salt Lake City

1998 winter olympics: Nagano
2002 WC soccer: Japan (co-host)

Invader Zim wrote:Hope we don't get it. Bunch of gayball skin heads smashing up the joint is what we don't want. It's bad enough having to put up with the Barmy Army every 4 years.

Indeed. I'd have to plan an overseas trip that coincides nicely with the tournament.

Bunch of wusses...

Invader Zim wrote:Hope we don't get it. Bunch of gayball skin heads smashing up the joint is what we don't want. It's bad enough having to put up with the Barmy Army every 4 years.

Clearly can't cope with all that IQ!

The 2000 Sydney Olympics were the most successful games of all.

Anyways, I'd love the Football World Cup to come downunder. Then guys like Zim and Ross can experience first hand why it is the World Game.

Should mention that I was in England last year during the gayball cup and one of the highlights was being in a pub when England got knocked out. The entire room went completely silent when they lost.

Being in a big crowd here if our gayball team gets eliminated would be pretty 'grouse'.

JKLever wrote:Bunch of wusses...

not all of us are West Australian

I'd say by 2018 there will be at least 10 dedicated football stadia with 50,000+ capacity and I don't think any of the mooted rival bids can match that or the infrastructure 'we' have.

The potential for developing the game in China and the FA often strained relations with other federations over recent years will be the biggest obstacles.

Ross wrote:

Invader Zim wrote:Hope we don't get it. Bunch of gayball skin heads smashing up the joint is what we don't want. It's bad enough having to put up with the Barmy Army every 4 years.

Indeed. I'd have to plan an overseas trip that coincides nicely with the tournament.

Turn it up - it would be a great time to be in Oz. And given that I am a member of the Olympic Stadium, I'd have a good chance of going to a Soccer WC final.

Having said that, there is no reason why Aust should get it. We'd do a great job but given it is a second tier sport in the country we don't deserve it.

Two other big reasons why Aust won't get it - it would be the 3rd WC in a row in the southern hemisphere and the time zone is rubbish for everyone except Asia.

I'd be happy for England to get it.

Great news. It'll be mega.

JGK wrote:Having said that, there is no reason why Aust should get it. We'd do a great job but given it is a second tier sport in the country we don't deserve it.

Well, the USA hosted a World Cup and it was about an eighth-tier sport there at the time they were awarded the hosting rights...

Two other big reasons why Aust won't get it - it would be the 3rd WC in a row in the southern hemisphere and the time zone is rubbish for everyone except Asia.

Agree with you there. It's all about TV.

The 2018 World Cup is England's to lose.

It's almost certain to go to someone in Europe. UEFA would chuck a wobbly if it missed out on hosting a World Cup for a third time in a row.

Having said that, England does have enemies in FIFA. I'd say China is in the best position should the English bid fall over.

I think Australia's really aiming for 2022 or 2026.

Cheers.

Hass wrote:The 2018 World Cup is England's to lose.

It's almost certain to go to someone in Europe. UEFA would chuck a wobbly if it missed out on hosting a World Cup for a third time in a row.

Having said that, England does have enemies in FIFA. I'd say China is in the best position should the English bid fall over.

I think Australia's really aiming for 2022 or 2026.

Cheers.

A good summary i think. Russia might develop enough over the next four years to have a chance but i would be suprised.

Also maybe the only chance we have of getting there by then!!!