FA appoint Anson to lead World Cup bid
Thursday, 20 Nov 2008 22:50
The FA have appointed Andy Anson to lead its World Cup bid committee
The Football Association (FA) has brought in current ATP Europe chief executive Andy Anson to lead its bid committee ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
Anson is the former commercial director of Manchester United and will begin his new role with the FA in January, focusing towards ensuring England's bid to host the World Cup is successful.
The appointment comes after the same job was turned down by current Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry.
Anson said: "It is an absolute privilege to be invited to take the role and play a part in the bid to bring the World Cup tournament back to England in 2018.
"This project is a chance for us to show that England can stage a successful tournament on behalf of the football world and I'm extremely excited by the prospect.
"A World Cup here can benefit the nation and unite communities across the country, but this is also a bid that will aim to unite the entire globe."
Bid chairman Lord Triesman added of the appointment that he thought Anson had an "excellent pedigree" and understands "both football and the commercial side of the industry".
The FA will find out if their World Cup bid has been successful at a FIFA executive committee meeting in 2011, where they face competition from countries including Australia, China and a joint bid from Belgium and the Netherlands.
Ansell was at Manchester United for three years and played a pivotal role in the club obtaining their current shirt sponsorship deal with American insurance company AIG.