PM, Beckham and Rooney launch England's World Cup bid

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown teamed up with David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and other English soccer stars on Monday to launch England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

The United States, Russia, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico and Japan are also entering bids, and Spain and Portugal and the Netherlands and Belgium may make joint bids.

FIFA's executive committee will choose the host in December 2010.

"If we can secure the football World Cup in England in 2018, it will be the greatest sporting decade our country has ever seen," said Brown, who was joined by Beckham, Rooney and members of England's 1966 World Cup championship team to promote England's bid at the ceremony Monday at Wembley Stadium.

London is set to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2014 Commonwealth Games will happen in Glasgow, and England has also bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup in 2019.

England hasn't played host to the World Cup since winning it in 1966. The country bid for the 2006 World Cup but it was a flop that saw England win only five votes.

"I am proud to support, encourage and advocate the official launch of the England 2018 bid," Brown said. "I do so as a football fan, as someone who watches football all the time, and I believe it is right for England to host the World Cup. Building on the success of Euro '96, we have the stadiums, the infrastructure to host the greatest football tournament in the world."

Beckham, who is currently on loan to AC Milan by the Los Angeles Galaxy, was part of London's campaign for the 2012 Olympics.

"I've played with some of the biggest and best [players] in the world and all they talk about is the passion and atmosphere that is shown at England games and games against teams from England," Beckham said.

"We, as a country, are always ready for big competitions. If someone was to say next week we'll stage a tournament in England, I don't think there are many other countries who would be ready to facilitate that."

2010 World Cup – Only 400 Days Away

Today marks 400 days to go until the kick off of the 2010 FIFA World Cup here in sunny South Africa. That means you have just 400 days left to get your tickets to the matches. Not that you’d want to wait too long, as demand is high.

Tickets:

FIFA have stated that the second ticketing phase, which started just two days ago, and will make 100 000 tickets available, has already received 185 000 applications (100 000 for Individual Match Tickets, and 85 000 for Team Specific Ticket Series). These applications were made within eight hours of the second ticketing phase starting.

Ticket sales for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup have also received a quick boost: within the first twenty-four hours of all four ticketing centres being opened, as reported last week, approximately 18 000 tickets were sold. As expected by FIFA, this “over the counter” method of purchasing tickets has proved to be the most popular way for fans. This brings the total number of tickets sold for the event to roughly 340 000, leaving 300 000 still available.

Stadiums:

FIFA Communications Director Hans Klaus recently gave a glowing update report about South Africa’s progress regarding both the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Speaking during the ongoing International Sports Press Association (AIPS) congress, Klaus said he was confident that South Africa would deliver to expectations. He emphasised that at this stage there should be no question about the stadiums’ readiness as South Africa was ahead of schedule.

Making these remarks after viewing a video clip of South Africa’s preparations, Klaus informed the journalists attending the congress that the stadiums were really wonderful, adding that they were “more beautiful than those in Germany.”Facts and statistics regarding our World Cup stadiums:

- Collectively the stadiums seat more than 570 000 people.
- The Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban has a steel arch 105 m above the middle of the pitch, and will have a cable car which will take visitors to a viewing platform.
- Soccer City in Johannesburg takes the form of a calabash, a traditional African drinking vessel. The outer skin area spans 43 000 square metres, and will be constructed from wholly natural energy-efficient material. It is the biggest stadium in Africa, seating almost 95 000 people. No mean feat, when one considers than the last Olympic Games in Beijing opening ceremony seated only 91 000 people.
- The Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit is situated in a region known for its wild beauty and animals, close to the Kruger National Park. Its signature feature is the 18 roof supports that resemble giraffes.

With just 400 days left until the 2010 World Cup kicks off, it appears that there will be no problems regarding stadium readiness or capacity, plus it’s pretty safe to assume that all the venues are going to be packed to capacity for each and every game.

Stadiums facts courtesy of the South Africa 2010 Government website.

by Stuart Alderson-Smith