FIFA President Sepp Blatter is set to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron later today to discuss England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup finals. The meeting will take place at the Premier’s residence in number 10 Downing Street.
Blatter will watch a presentation of England’s bid before meeting government officials, as well football personalities and ambassadors. December 2 is the date that FIFA’s 24 man executive committee will vote on the 2018 and 2022 hosts.
England 2018 LOC Chairman Geoff Thompson said that the British government was pleased that Mr. Blatter had accepted their invitation to meet with the Prime Minister. Blatter earlier met with Nick Clegg the Deputy Prime Minister in the summer.
“We are delighted the FIFA president has accepted and we are honoured that he and FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke will be visiting England so close to the decision in December.
“We will take this opportunity to provide first-hand evidence of England’s passion for the game and confirm our intention to produce a commercially successful FIFA World Cup that creates a new global fund to provide benefits across the world for many generations to come.
“It will be a tremendous show of support from across the country and we are grateful to the Prime Minister for allowing this meeting to take place.”
At the moment, the main contenders to host this tournament are England and Russia with the bookies making England the favourites. In an interview with the Guardian, Blatter gave the clearest hint that England would win the bid.
“The easiest way to organise the World Cup is to go to England. Everything is there – fans, stadiums, infrastructure – it’s easy.”
The other bidders include Spain and Portugal who are organising a joint bid, and Netherlands and Belgium who are also orgainising a joint bid.
Blatter also maintained that Russia will be strong opponents in the bidding process.
“You cannot deny Russia if they bid for something. They are more than a country. hey are a big continent, a big power.”
Photo credit: from republicoftogo.com
