The professional football of which country is the only one watched by countless millions of fans around the globe every week of the season? The answer is England.
Which country has the greatest range of state of the art stadia in the world? The answer is England.
Which country has the finest football heritage, the most dedicated fans, the best transport network and sophisticated communications systems? The answer is England.
I could go on all day but I’ll stop there with one final question which in reality is a ‘no brainer’. In Zurich this Thursday, which country should get the nod from FIFA to stage the 2018 World Cup finals? The answer – by a country mile – is England.
But it’s not quite as simple as that, is it? You see the destination of the 2018 World Cup isn’t about stadia and transport, heritage and fans. It’s about politics and personal egos. Mix those two ingredients with football and the resulting cocktail is poisonous.
Tonight the BBC will screen an investigation on their Panorama programme into alleged corruption behind the doors of the world’s football governing body.
You might find that interesting if you like that sort of thing but why should a programme of that nature damage England’s bid to stage the 2018 World Cup finals? Panorama’s expose has nothing to do with England’s bid or our bidding team.
Yes, the timing of tonight’s BBC programme is unfortunate to say the least but if those 22 FIFA executives use that to reject England’s bid on Thursday they should be locked up with the keys thrown away.
Let’s put the cross of St George back in the cupboard drawer for a moment and look back over the history of the World Cup since the first finals in Uruguay in 1930.
Since then Italy, France, Germany and – unbelievably – Mexico have all hosted two World Cup finals.
Brazil will stage their second finals in 2014. That looks like another perfect FIFA choice to me.
Notorious
At this very moment the streets of a notorious area of Rio de Janeiro are running red with blood as a battle rages between armed Brazilian forces and drug gangs. Sounds like just the place to hold the World Cup finals, doesn’t it? And in the entire 80-year history of the World Cup England, the country where football was born, have hosted the finals only once back in 1966.
That was 44 long years ago. Since then the tournament finals have been awarded to non-footballing nations like America, South Korea and Japan and South Africa.
And to ignore for 44 years the country which introduced football to the world is a scandal of biblical proportions.
Only people of a certain vintage will clearly remember the 1966 World Cup finals and I have to admit that I am of that vintage.
I travelled with a few pals to Goodison Park to watch the incomparable Pele playing for Brazil against Hungary. That was the experience of a lifetime.
I remember looking at pictures in the Manchester Evening News of the entire Korean squad visiting an upmarket store in Manchester’s city centre.
Those tiny Korean players looked awestruck. It was like they had stepped into a different world.
They just stood there wide-eyed and open-mouthed and in the end had to be gently ushered off the premises because it was well past closing time.
By 2018, it will be 52 years since England last hosted the World Cup finals. That wait is an insult to a country which lives and breathes football.
I want the next generation of supporters to share my experiences of 44 years ago – because they deserve to.
I want to see Old Trafford and Eastlands packed to the rafters with fans watching the best players on the planet.
I want to see kids abandoning their computers and playing football instead in the parks. Because that’s what the World Cup finals can do, you know.
I want the country to unite as one and come alive just as it did for a few glorious weeks back in 1966.
We don’t just need the 2018 World Cup finals to be staged in England. We’ve earned that right 100 times over.
In fact, we shouldn’t have had to bid for the privilege. Those 22 FIFA executives who will pick the winner in Zurich on Thursday should have got down on their knees and begged us to stage it.
If our bid succeeds in three days’ time, it won’t simply mean that the World Cup is coming to England in eight years’ time. It will mean, at long last, that it’s coming back home.
What do you think? Have your say.
Bring the World Cup home!
November 29, 2010
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you just know it will go to which country has given the most presents to the self appointed egotists who are FIFA, a little club of men who put themselves first sponsors second, tv companies next, then the teams and finally the fans who are the life blood of the game.
Remember when football came home in '96 and we were thrilled to host such a great event as the European Championships? Well the games were played out in half-empty 'stadia'.
Old Trafford was less than half-full for the SEMI-FINAL and the touts were selling tickets for a fiver outside!
England certainly deserves to host the World Cup. However, I do feel that there is a certain amount of arrogance which can only be detrimental to the bid. Nobody is going to beg England, please get that straight. England might have the best facilities, the most watched league, the (somewhat questionable) assertion that England have the best fans.; but if all that was of such consequence, what has stopped the national team from doing something of note? I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but the world over, the England team is seen as a joke. Which is a pity.
The fact is this. England might have the best league in the world, the best players might be playing for English teams, and English clubs might be the most famous in the world, but none of this matters when you talk of international football. Football is looking to expand, and very few people will say that the national team of England is one of the first that comes to their mind when they think of international teams which have done well.
This nit-picking on Rio is a bit uncivilized and a bit like all the nonsense that people indulged in when talking about the World Cup in South Africa. Concentrate on your own bid instead of trying to undermine other host cities. Face it, Rio deserved the World Cup because their national team is one of the best ever. Little kids recognize the Brazilian national team, not the England national team.
You think people will say England deserved the bid when you people suggest that the FIFA executives in Zurich must be begging? What arrogance and snobbery. .
russia probably has credentials better than england at present , but if not this time surely next time will be englands ? no doubt the best greaser of fifas palms will win this week as usual !
Fact is that we have the best bid by a country mile but that counts for nothing! The Panorama documentary tonight will show alleged corruption years ago involving a FIFA satllite company that was disbanded in 2000. Who cares? We are on a hiding to nothing for two reasons. The bid process is massively flawed because there are on 22 votes out of all the 180 or so members, those voting for two world cups at once which gives plenty of scope for collusion which will be impossible to prove. And England's bid has been flawed from day one because we do not have the political clout at FIFA, Lord Triesman wrecked when he took charge by making everyone re-apply which means he lost two of the most experienced people in organising these bids to the Russians and the Australians, but then had to resign himself after an unbelievable gaff. The fact is that whilst our bid may be the best, the way it has been presented has been at best amateurish and the because we won't do the politics when other countries will means we are going to be lucky to get in to the second round. If we win it, it will be a miracle but despite the Russians being favourites, keep an eye on the Spanish/Portuguese bid because they will have the South Americans in their camp, at least one CONCACAF member and quite possibly some of the Middle/Far East too!
Quote ". . .the best transport network. . ." just made me laugh so much I spat coffee all over my keyboard.
I'd say football is a Latin game discovered accidentally by the English.
Also if FIFA are not given the chance to trouser lots of cash by a host nation, (as they allegedly did allegedly in South Africa allegedly) then they're just not going to be interested in staging the world cup there.
typical rag comments i'll bet not one of you is english.
total disgrace.
As an Irish person I have a few impartial points of view.
Positives:
* England have the best range of Stadia in the world
* Passionate fans who will attend all of the games (unlike other World Cups when we see empty seats up until the quarter finals)
* Birthplace of Football
* Great infrastructure & Hotels
* Lessons will be learnt after the Olympics and England will host one of the best World Cups of all time.
* Low crime rates, affordable & accessible compared to Russia.
Negatives:
* Contradicting the above but FIFA prefer for the Stadia not to be already in place for 'legacy nonsense.
* Football is such a large part of English culture - FIFA prefer the idea of increasing the popularity of the Sport in hosting nations if possible (legacy nonsense again). Could you possible increase the popularity of football in England? I think not.
* Over the last 40 years a sizeable minority of English fans have reaped havoc when travelling to World & European Cups - this cannot be over looked.
* FIFA corruption - England & the FA's high standards would not allow them to compete with less scrupulous bidding nations.
If you were to ask any rational football fan they would say that England should get the World Cup.
Unfortunately FIFA are not rational and are corrupt.
Russia will get it - to the disappointment of football fans worldwide.