Fifa announce combined bid process for future World Cups

England hope to host the tournament in 2018

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Saturday, 20, Dec 2008 02:37

Fifa has announced today that the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will take place simultaneously.

England is bidding to host the 2018 World Cup and bid chairman Lord Triesman welcomed the announcement – although he said England's bid would not have been affected no matter what decision Fifa had come to in their meeting in Tokyo.

Lord Triesman said: "Fifa's announcement effectively sets the ball rolling on the whole process and so this marks the start of an intense but exciting period. We'll be officially registering our intent at the earliest opportunity in the new year."

Countries from Africa and South America will not be able to bid for the 2018 tournament as South Africa and Brazil will host the next two World Cups.

Joint bids from Spain and Portugal as well as Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are anticipated, as well as individual bids from Russia and Australia.

China and the United States could also bid for the 2018 tournament though it is believed that those two countries may be more focussed on a 2022 bid.

Lord Triesman said the FA's focus was to ensure its bid exceeded Fifa's criteria and convinced the world the sport would benefit from the tournament being hosted in England.

He added: "Our mission is to ensure we have the support of everyone around the country so the world knows that England not only has the infrastructure to stage a tournament but also the enthusiasm to make it the best possible event in World Cup history.

"We are determined that a World Cup in England will leave a lasting legacy for the development of world football."

The vote to decide the host nations for 2018 and 2022 will take place in December 2010 with losing bidders from 2018 able to immediately enter the vote for 2022 should they wish to do so.