U.S. pulls bid for 2018 World Cup Committee focusing effort on hosting in 2022
As expected, the USA Bid Committee has pulled out of consideration to host the 2018 World Cup. Now the U.S. will focus exclusively on trying to win the bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
It has long been expected that the 2018 World Cup will be awarded to a European nation. Most soccer insiders expect FIFA to award the tournament to England or Russia, which are also competing against a pair of joint bids from Belgium/the Netherlands and Spain/Portugal.
In an interesting note inside the U.S. Soccer Federation's media release, the USA Bid Committee states that the "decision comes after several months of careful deliberation with FIFA, UEFA and members of the USA Bid Board of Directors."
There's plenty of horse trading as countries jockey to get enough votes from the 24-member executive committee that will pick the World Cup hosts. It will be interesting to see if the U.S. bid picked up any support for its 2022 bid from committee members tied to UEFA.
"For some time we have been in conversations with FIFA and UEFA about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process, an option we have made reference to many times," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, the chairman of the USA Bid Committee, said in a statement. "We are confident this is in the best interests of the USA bid."
By guaranteeing the 2018 World Cup will be in Europe, the chances for the U.S. in 2022 increase because FIFA does not allow a continent to host consecutive World Cups. The U.S. is competing against Australia, which is deemed by FIFA as an Asian country, Japan, South Korea and Qatar.
China has indicated an interest in hosting the 2026 World Cup, which could strengthen the U.S. bid's chances because the 2022 competition is heavy on Asian bidders. FIFA might prefer to hold the World Cup in China in 2026.
"We knew all along that (bowing out of the 2018 bid) was a possibility," said Dynamo senior vice president Rocky Harris, a member of the Houston Bid Committee. "It allows everyone to target in on one date. From the beginning we knew that our opportunity was 2022, but we threw our name in the hat for the other. Now it's about putting all of our resources, all of our focus and priorities on the 2022 bid."
FIFA acknowledged that the USA Bid Committee realized there was a strong push toward holding the 2018 World Cup in Europe.
"We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the USA Bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Europe," FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke said in a statement. "The announcement today by the USA Bid to focus solely on the 2022 FIFA World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture which is much appreciated by FIFA."
FIFA, which had a six-person inspection delegation tour Houston, Dallas and three other cities last month to conclude its report on the U.S. bid, will announce the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts Dec. 2 in Zurich.
"We wanted to make the announcement now — still 48 days before the final decision - in order to make our intentions clear during the last part of our campaign," Gulati said. "This also enables FIFA to finalize the selection procedures during its upcoming executive committee meeting (Oct. 28)."
It has long been expected that the 2018 World Cup will be awarded to a European nation. Most soccer insiders expect FIFA to award the tournament to England or Russia, which are also competing against a pair of joint bids from Belgium/the Netherlands and Spain/Portugal.
In an interesting note inside the U.S. Soccer Federation's media release, the USA Bid Committee states that the "decision comes after several months of careful deliberation with FIFA, UEFA and members of the USA Bid Board of Directors."
There's plenty of horse trading as countries jockey to get enough votes from the 24-member executive committee that will pick the World Cup hosts. It will be interesting to see if the U.S. bid picked up any support for its 2022 bid from committee members tied to UEFA.
"For some time we have been in conversations with FIFA and UEFA about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process, an option we have made reference to many times," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, the chairman of the USA Bid Committee, said in a statement. "We are confident this is in the best interests of the USA bid."
By guaranteeing the 2018 World Cup will be in Europe, the chances for the U.S. in 2022 increase because FIFA does not allow a continent to host consecutive World Cups. The U.S. is competing against Australia, which is deemed by FIFA as an Asian country, Japan, South Korea and Qatar.
China has indicated an interest in hosting the 2026 World Cup, which could strengthen the U.S. bid's chances because the 2022 competition is heavy on Asian bidders. FIFA might prefer to hold the World Cup in China in 2026.
"We knew all along that (bowing out of the 2018 bid) was a possibility," said Dynamo senior vice president Rocky Harris, a member of the Houston Bid Committee. "It allows everyone to target in on one date. From the beginning we knew that our opportunity was 2022, but we threw our name in the hat for the other. Now it's about putting all of our resources, all of our focus and priorities on the 2022 bid."
FIFA acknowledged that the USA Bid Committee realized there was a strong push toward holding the 2018 World Cup in Europe.
"We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the USA Bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Europe," FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke said in a statement. "The announcement today by the USA Bid to focus solely on the 2022 FIFA World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture which is much appreciated by FIFA."
FIFA, which had a six-person inspection delegation tour Houston, Dallas and three other cities last month to conclude its report on the U.S. bid, will announce the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts Dec. 2 in Zurich.
"We wanted to make the announcement now — still 48 days before the final decision - in order to make our intentions clear during the last part of our campaign," Gulati said. "This also enables FIFA to finalize the selection procedures during its upcoming executive committee meeting (Oct. 28)."
