England have missed out on the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals with Fifa opting to award Russia the right to host the event for the first time. It has been revealed that England’s bid received just two votes, those coming from its own bid team chairman Geoff Thompson and African Confederation president Issa Hayatou.
The result has been described by Prime Minister David Cameron as “bitterly disappointing” and felt there was not much England could have done to convince Fifa that theirs was the best bid.
“I think, according to Fifa, we had the best technical bid, the best commercial bid”, Cameron stated. “No-one could identify any risks coming to England. But it turns out that’s not enough.”
Had England been awarded the competition it would have been the first time since 1966 that football’s showpiece event had taken place on English soil. This set-back means that England’s next chance to be hosts will be 2030. However, with Fifa looking to open up the game to a more diverse audience, the 2022 finals being awarded to Qatar being a prime example, the likelihood of England securing that right looks more and more unlikely.
There is no doubting the heart break that will be felt by all involved in the ultimately unsuccessful bid for the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Disappoint can be felt by all football fans who were confident of securing the competition with what seemed such a confident bid.
England is ready to host a World Cup; no arguments can be made against that fact. We benefit from some of the best and most state of the art stadia in the world, one of the best safety records in Europe, if not the World, aligned with some of the most passionate football fans on the planet. However all this, along with one of the most profitable bids in history, appeared to be not enough to sway the decision of Sepp Blatter and his delegates.
To pin blame upon anyone seems unfair. Even if the finger is to point, which it will, at Andrew Jennings’ damning investigation into corruption within Fifa (aired in the Monday 29th edition of Panorama). In truth, the documentary didn’t reveal anything we, as educated football fans, didn’t already know.
Granted, perhaps the airing of that particular episode was ill timed it does however pose a number of questions. Why were the FA, parliament and even the Royal family so intent on securing the games, even if it meant getting into bed with numerace people in order to secure votes given the corrupt nature of Fifa? Shouldn’t the Football Association, parliament and the Royal Family be distancing itself from such opaque organisations? The football association and parliament appeared content to bend over backwards just to secure the finals. But to no avail.
If the England Team had secured the 2018 World Cup finals it would have made it the fifth international sporting competition held on these shores in the space of a decade. England is set to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the stadium looked near to completion in pictures that saw David Beckham and Lord Coe paying it a visit.
A year later England will welcome the rugby league world as it hosts the showpiece international tournament. Not for a second am I suggesting that the rugby league world cup has the same sort of prestige that goes with the Fifa World Cup finals but it is progress for the nation as we look to host more and more international competitions. The rather contrived structure of the tournament may blunt the regard that people hold it in but people must not doubt its importance, especially for the sport of rugby league.
Since 1999 the Rugby Football Union, have made frequent attempts to secure the rugby world cup, missing out marginally for the right to be hosts for 2007 tournament. In 2015, however, the Rugby Union World Cup will come to England and Wales, and who knows England might be defending a second crown.
At the very end of the decade we will see England host the Cricket World Cup. Both this tournament, set for 2019, and the rugby world cup mentioned previously will come on the back of Australia and New Zealand being hosts four years previous, both instances will be hard acts to follow there is no doubt. Where games will be held is too hard to speculate nine years down the line but with the regeneration of grounds such as the Rose Bowl, Hampshire, and Chester-le-Street, Durham, others will need to follow suit making for exciting developments to county grounds all over the country. Not only this, but we may see new nations taking part as the cricket world sees the game developing in more and more countries.
To have worked so hard in attempting to gain the right to host the 2018 World Cup it is bitterly disappointing for all not to have been granted it, this is clear for all to see. But in the next ten years the nation plays host to all the events outlined above, the prospect of these is as exciting as the finals themselves so all is not lost. The absence of a World Cup in England allows for organisers of these competitions to do their job without the over powering and enveloping shadow of World Cup football around them. It may be a blessing in disguise as we see the nation come together to support our men and women competing on a national stage in sports that get the minority of column inches in our own backyard.
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