Americans may rival FA's 2018 World Cup bid
Matt Dickinson, Times
The England team will travel to Trinidad and Tobago this week in search of a precious vote for the FA's 2018 World Cup bid. But it could be a wasted journey. says the US Soccer Federation (USSF), which is planning its own bid for the tournament and expects Jack Warner, the head of the Trinidad and Tobago federation and vice-president of Fifa, to support its bid.
Sunil Gulati, president of the USSF, who is in London for this evening's match between England and the United States, said that he expects the FA to submit a formidable bid, but the Americans expect to be strong contenders. “We have got 50 stadia of 70,000-seater that are capable of hosting the World Cup; we have the largest market-place in the world and we are determined to finish what we started in 1994 [when they last hosted the tournament finals],” Gulati said.
That was a reference to attempts to make football a mainstream sport in America. The USSF argues that it is making inroads through Major League Soccer, and the presence of David Beckham, and that taking the World Cup back to the States will capture the audience once and for all. “We are the most diversified nation in the world,” Gulati said. “If Nigeria and Ghana played each other, it would sell out. We will be making a decision in the next two to three months, but we are looking very seriously at it.
“Clearly England will have a very strong bid, Spain will be a formidable candidate, Germany would be a formidable candidate. But it is not a question of fearing anyone else.”
England's bid for the 2006 World Cup was doomed by a series of political misjudgments that explains the eagerness to cosy up to Warner, the president of Concacaf, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, and a powerful man at Fifa. As reported in The Times last week, the FA is willing to take a financial loss on the game to buy Warner's support and even the prospect of a second-preference vote will be deemed to have made the journey worthwhile.
“The bid process has become very competitive and whether playing a game in Trinidad has anything to do with that I am not sure,” Gulati said. “The FA are more sophisticated than thinking they are going to get Jack Warner's vote on the back of playing one game.”
The USSF officials are also expected to meet the Premier League during their trip to London, when the 39th game will also be on the table. Gulati said that his organisation had no objections in principle and would consider hosting Premier League matches, and particularly the Community Shield, but only if first approved by Fifa.
“I don't think the principle is a foolish one,” Gulati said. “The idea is something we would talk about, but we have to follow Fifa guidance.”
