This week’s news that the British government has backed a proposed bid to host the Fifa World Cup in 2030 has added weight to the chances of football’s biggest tournament coming to the UK and Ireland.
Is there definitely going to be a bid?
The English, Irish, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh football associations thanked the British government for their promise of financial backing in a joint statement. But a bid is still not certain, with the statement adding:
“The FAs will continue to undertake feasibility work to assess the viability of a bid before Fifa formally opens the process in 2022.”
Why a joint bid?
The proposed decision to spread the tournament across England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales has raised some eyebrows. But from 2026 onwards the World Cup is set to expand from 32 to 48 teams, putting far greater strain on the infrastructure of the tournament hosts.
The event in five years’ time is to be hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico, and all of the rumoured proposals for 2030 are also joint bids.
When is the voting?
The bidding process will begin in the spring of 2022, with a final vote for the tournament hosts to be held at the FIFA Congress in 2024.
Will the UK and Ireland be Uefa’s first choice?
Each regional governing body is likely to back just one bid to host the tournament, so if a bid does come from the UK and Ireland then they will first have to persuade Uefa that they are the best choice among the European nations.
Spain and Portugal have previously said that they are intending to put forward a joint proposal, while a combined bid between Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia has also been mooted.
There are fears from the home nations that Wembley’s successful bid to host the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 (to be held later this year) may count against them when Uefa turns its attention towards 2030.
Who are Europe’s biggest rival bids?
The most likely threat to a European bid is expected to come from South America, where a joint bid is expected from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
China have also been linked with a bid after Fifa relaxed their rules to mean federations must only sit out one bidding process after hosting a tournament. Under the previous rules China would have been unable to bid due to Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022, as both are members of the AFC.
How likely is the bid to succeed?
The World Cup will not have been held on UK or Irish soil for 64 years by the time of the 2030 tournament. However, if a bid is successful it would mean that three of the seven most recent tournaments will have been awarded to Uefa members (following on from Germany in 2006 and Russia in 2018).
As such, a proposed South American bid may be seen favourably by Fifa members, given that Brazil in 2014 are the only Conmebol nation to have hosted a World Cup since 1978. The bid from Conmebol may also have added weight of bringing the tournament back to the continent a century on from the first ever World Cup, which was held in Uruguay in 1930.
Is the UK government backing significant?
Monday’s news that the British government will provide £2.8m to the bidding process is a significant step towards that bid becoming reality.
However, it will not have come as a surprise to the associations that such an offer arrived, as Theresa May had already promised the government’s support back in 2018, saying: “The decision on whether to bid is for the football associations to make. If they decide to go forward, they can count on this government’s full support.”
What are the major hurdles remaining?
The English FA feel that perceptions of entitlement and superiority were particularly damaging to their bid to host the 2018 World Cup, and have subsequently been keen to move away from language such as “the home of football”.
To that end, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s choice of words in his announcement of the British government’s financial backing for the bid will not have been warmly received.
Johnson talked of the “home of football” when he announced the backing, saying: “Let’s bring football home in 2030. I would love for the home of football to host the 2030 World Cup, and it would be a wonderful thing for the whole country to savour.”
The home football associations will hope that is the last use of such language during the process.
What about the allegations of corruption?
England’s failed attempt to host the 2018 tournament will temper optimism about a possible bid.
The Football Association were extremely confident that their campaign – fronted by David Beckham, Prince William and then Prime Minister David Cameron – would be successful. But they received just two of the 22 votes as the tournament was handed to Russia.
Cameron later wrote in his autobiography about “bribery, lack of transparency, collusion, fraud” as being “forces that had denied Britain the World Cup”.
All parties have denied the allegations while an investigation in the US continues. Fifa has seen a change of leadership at the top since that bid process too, with Gianni Infantino replacing Sepp Blatter after the latter was banned from football by the Fifa ethics committee.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2OasJ85
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