Brown backs World Cup bid
Brown has pledged to support any bid to host the tournament in 2018
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Wednesday, 24, Oct 2007 09:43
Prime minister Gordon Brown has pledged his support to the Football Association (FA) should they decide to bid for the 2018 World Cup.
Mr Brown met with Fifa president Sepp Blatter at Downing Street today to discuss the possibility of England entering a bid for the tournament.
The government are keen to host the World Cup having already secured the 2012 Olympics so that Britain can enjoy a historical decade of sport.
Mr Brown said: "While a bid is a matter for the English FA, we have said we are not only willing but very keen to support an England bid for the 2018 World Cup.
"By 2018 it will be more than 50 years since we last hosted the World Cup and it would be a huge boost to football in our country and would also make for a great sporting decade."
Current rules could prevent a bid from being possible as Fifa favours a rotation policy at present, meaning the FA would have to wait until it was Europe's turn in the rotation.
However Mr Blatter has suggested that rule could change after a meeting of the Fifa executive next week.
He said: "It's an item we will be discussing on Monday and Tuesday at the Fifa executive committee in Zurich, on how the World Cup is to be presented to the world.
Brazil are scheduled to host the tournament in 2014 and under the new rules only representatives from South America would be prevented from bidding for the 2018 tournament.