England 2018 in S. America; Coordinator for Australia; Holland-Belgium cities

(WFI) A delegation of England’s World Cup bid leaders have paid a whistle-stop official visit to the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) in an attempt to gain crucial support for their effort to host the 2018 finals.

Bid chairman David Triesman and chief executive Andy Anson were accompanied by Shan Morgan, Britain’s Argentina ambassador, during the visit to Conmebol’s headquarters in Luque, Paraguay.

Triesman and Anson made an impassioned presentation in which they described football as England’s lifeblood.

Their presentation on Tuesday was seen by Conmebol president and FIFA executive member Nicolás Leoz. He was accompanied by Juan Angel Napout and Ramón González Daher, president and vice-president of the Paraguay FA.

Following the meeting the visitors toured the Museum of South American Football.

With the row over gifts to FIFA executive’s wives still being played out back in England, Triesman will be relieved that his latest gift – a framed, signed photograph of Gordon Banks making ‘the save of the century’ at Pele’s feet in the 1970 World Cup – to the 81-year-old Leoz was accepted somewhat more graciously. Conmebol described it “a magnificent contribution”.

Anson returned to London Thursday morning and headed to Wembley for back-to-back meetings. Anson and Triesman are expected to hit the road again early next week to meet Cypriot FIFA executive member Marios Lefkartis.

England faces competition from Australia, Belgium/Holland, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Spain/Portugal, and the U.S. in the race for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Qatar and South Korea are only bidding for the 2022 tournament. Bid dossiers are due with FIFA by next May.

The FIFA Executive Committee will decide the hosts in December 2010.

Host cities for Holland-Belgium
The Holland-Belgium bid will present the host cities and venues to be included in its bid book at a press conference on Monday. Bid officials, who have adopted the bid slogan ‘Together for Great Goals’, will confirm the list of 12 stadia at bid headquarters in Eindhoven.

The bid plans calls for five in the Netherlands and seven in Belgium where several new venues would be built.

Brussels would have a new national stadium with a seating capacity of 65,000 to 70,000 seats. The cities of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Liège and Charleroi will have new stadiums. The stadium in Genk, the Cristalarena, will be renovated.

The Nov. 9 event follows the presentation of the bid’s partners and a number of ambassadors in September.

Five commercial partners include KLM Airlines, with Dutch footballing legends Johan Cruyff and Ruud Gullit among the ambassadors.

Bid coordinator for Australia?
State and territory leaders in Australia are calling for a national coordinator to oversee the country’s bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

Politicians are to lobby for Kevin Rudd’s government and Football Federation Australia to make the appointment. "We will be raising that directly with the prime minister," NSW Premier Nathan Rees told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.

"We are in a situation where we need a number of particular stadiums of particular style and capacity. And we need to make sure that bid is coordinated with regards to provision of those stadiums, the identification of the amenities and facilities that will be required,” he was quoted by WA Today.com.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann said a national bid coordinator was a "very positive idea". "Obviously, there are clear cost and other implications for the states, that is why we believe there should be a national coordinator for the bid for the World Cup."

A national bid coordinator could also play a role in negotiating with the country’s more popular football codes to release venues to stage FIFA’s showpiece.

The Australian Football League, the National Rugby League and Super 14 rugby union teams are being urged to make some major venues available in the middle of their seasons, a commitment to be included in the country’s bid book to FIFA. Football ranks third in popularity behind the other codes in Australia.

Written by James Corbett and Mark Bisson        

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