Fifa has dropped its policy of rotating the World Cup
between continents, opening the way for England to bid to stage the
tournament in 2018. The Football Association said the news was
"very encouraging" and said there was a strong case for England to
bid. Chief executive Brian Barwick said: "It is exactly what we
were hoping for and we will now discuss a timetable for a potential
bid."
A number of other strong contenders are expected, including China
and Russia. Countries belonging to confederations that hosted the
two preceding tournaments are barred from applying. For 2018, that
would rule out bids from Africa or South America, with South Africa
hosting the tournament in 2010 and Brazil poised to be confirmed as
2014 hosts this week.
Barwick added: "We realise there will be strong competition
involved in any bidding process, but we know that England has
fantastic stadiums, a unique tradition and passion for the game and
also a very strong infrastructure already in place. "If we do bid,
and England is awarded the 2018 World Cup, I'm sure it would be
brilliant for English football and the whole country."
BBC Radio 5 Live's sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said
Fifa thought it had made a "tactical mistake" in its rotation
policy in that the continents were deciding internally who their
candidates should be. "It worked OK for Africa because there was
competition but for South America, they all stood squarely behind
Brazil and that was the only candidate put forward. "I think
there's a concern that when you do that you don't get the best
possible outcome because you don't have candidates competing
against one another."
With four continental bodies able to bid for 2018 (Asia, Oceania,
Concacaf and Europe) Farquhar believes there will be a 2018 bid
from Australia. "Who knows, there is the prospect of the US or even
Canada, Jamaica or Mexico coming forward from Concacaf," he
added.
