U.S. Still in 2018 World Cup Race; England Promotes Sustainability

(WFI) U.S. World Cup bid chief executive David Downs tells World Football Insider his team has not been asked by FIFA to shift its focus away from the contest for 2018 to winning the race to stage the 2022 tournament.

Last month FIFA president Sepp Blatter indicated that a deal was being negotiated for Europe to stage the 2018 World Cup.

A report in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper said “multiple sources” confirmed that FIFA had held informal discussions with the US, Australian and Japanese bids to persuade them to concentrate their efforts on landing the 2022 World Cup.

But Downs insisted no such talks had taken place. "The USA remains focused on submitting a bid for both the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups,” he told WFI on Thursday.

“We have not received any official communication from FIFA in this regards, so we will not comment on speculation.

“We continue to abide by the procedures set out in this bidding process, and are pleased to do so."

His comments refer to the contract signed by bids from the US, Australia and Japan that allows them to run for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

But there is widespread consensus among the bids and FIFA observers that the World Cup will probably be awarded to Europe in 2018, although FIFA will not confirm that any deal is being negotiated that would reduce the field to European bids. Such a scenario would leave the US bidding against Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea for the 2022 edition.

England 2018 targets sustainability
England World Cup bid chief Andy Anson says that sustainability is at “the core” of his team’s efforts to host the 2018 finals.

Speaking at One Young World, the inaugural world youth leadership summit in London, Anson promised to match the leading international sustainability standard developed for the London 2012 Olympics.

“Sustainability has been at the core of our planning from day one,” said Anson.

“It has to be if it is going to be part of the way you run the tournament. You can’t suddenly introduce it halfway through the process. We will implement the leading standard for sustainable event management [BS8901] which helps systematically deal with issues such as energy, water, transport etc., which was created here in England for London 2012.”

Legacy and sustainability have been key components of planning for the 2012 Olympics in London and frequently extolled by LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe. By contrast, England’s World Cup bid team have until now been less active in promoting this side of their campaign.

Anson gave the bid’s transportation strategy as an example of England 2018’s sustainability plans in action.

He said the transport plans “will make it possible for 100 per cent of supporters to travel to any game from anywhere in the country on public transport.”

In World Football Insider's first World Cup Bid Power Index published last week, England – who scored top overall – were given just 5 points out of 10 on legacy.

Sources close to the bid team have since been keen to emphasize the different ways that English football promotes legacy, including its wide ranging development program in Africa.

Anson’s efforts this week to promote the sustainability features of an English finals sees a further effort in this direction and marks a shift to differentiate itself with other bids which, with the exception of Indonesia, have been slow to emphasize their green credentials.

Anson added that his bid team had learned from the example of Austria and Switzerland, who served as joint hosts of the 2008 European Championships and “worked incredibly hard on sustainability.”

“It is also possible to minimize the negative impact by carefully building sustainability considerations into every aspect of the event organization, which is what we plan to do,” Anson added.

“We’ve been planning on this from day one of the bid and we’re already in a good position because the majority of carbon emissions for a major event come from the construction of new stadia – and our iconic stadia are there already.

“We know that FIFA are constantly working hard in this area and, as we’ve said about all elements of our bid, we want to exceed their expectations.”

Meanwhile, England 2018 says it has not yet made a decision on a PR agency. Weber Shandwick is competing with Havas Sport for the contract.

Weber Shandwick appears to be favourite, having already supported some England 2018 international projects including the bid's promotional activities during last month's African Cup of Nations in Angola.

Gullit honoured to lead Holland-Belgium bid
Former Dutch international Ruud Gullit, the new president of the Holland-Belgium World Cup bid, says he is proud to be asked to “take on this challenging task”.

Appointed to the post on Tuesday, Gullit says in the bid’s latest newsletter: “I’d like to help make young players’ dreams come true in Belgium and the Netherlands, so that in eight years time they can experience a World Cup in their own country.

“For the millions of people who can’t actually be on the pitch – for whatever reason – there’ll still be an opportunity to see the great names of the era doing their work in the flesh.

“Whether this is on their own club’s training pitch or somewhere close to a large stadium. The world’s top players will never be any closer than this! I wish this dream were already true!”

Gullit, captain of the Dutch team that won the 1988 European Championships, was named as head of the Holland-Belgium bid committee on Tuesday. He will play a pivotal role for the bid on overseas trips to promote the campaign ahead of FIFA’s Dec. 2 vote on the 2018 and 2022 hosts.

Erica Terpstra, chair of the NOC*NSF, the Dutch umbrella organisation for sports, gives her backing to the Holland-Belgium campaign in the bid’s newsletter published on Thursday.

Announced as a new ambassador this week, the two-time Olympic swimming medallist said a World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands would be “compact, comfortable, well-organised: a true celebration of football.”

“I am convinced that a World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium would be a unique event with that little extra. The world would be introduced to something that is rarely seen at a World Cup: conviviality,” she said.

Terpstra, known as 'Mrs Sport' in the Netherlands because of her tireless work in promoting Dutch sport, hailed the bid’s compact World Cup plan.

“As the twelve host cities are so close to one another, fans would be encouraged to watch games in more than one city," she says.
 
“Our countries offer this great opportunity and all the city centres are just full of life and spirit,” she said, indicating that the short travel distances in the Netherlands and Belgium would make it a very comfortable World Cup for football fans. “Less travel, more fun,” she added.

Written by Mark Bisson (mark@worldfootballinsider.com) and James Corbett (james@worldfootballinsider.com)
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