Fifa Team Begins England 2018 Bid Inspection

Tuesday, 24th August 2010 at 08:50am

The Fifa World Cup bid inspection team started their four-day tour of England yesterday with a trip to Number 10 Downing Street for a gala reception where they met Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who told the visiting party that the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government feel that the England bid is unbeatable.

"I believe this is an exceptionally strong, unbeatable bid. We in this government believe in it, we hope that you will believe in it."

After visiting Downing Street, the inspectors took the London Underground to Wembley to inspect the facilities of the iconic stadium and to meet England manager Fabio Capello.

The six-man team has been inspecting potential hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups for the past six weeks, having previously visited Japan, Korea, Australia and Russia, and will next travel to inspect the joint bid of Spain and Portugal before moving onto the United States and Qatar.

The host nations for both tournaments will be announced on December 2.

The English bid is the favourite to land the 2018 crown but is expected to come under heavy pressure from Russia.

Fifa supremo Sepp Blatter, not part of the delegation visiting London, said that staging the World Cup in England in 2018 represents the 'easiest' option for the sport's governing body.

"The easiest way to organise the World Cup is to go to England. Everything is there - fans, stadiums, infrastructure," he said.

But he also warned English fans not to be complacent, adding that Russia's bid will certainly carry a threat.

"You cannot deny Russia if they bid for something. They are more than a country. They are a big continent, a big power."

Today's inspections will see the team sit through a number of presentations before taking an aerial inspection of a number of the grounds being put forward for the 2018 bid including The Emirates, White Hart Lane, The London 2012 Olympic Stadium, the City Ground in Nottingham and Elland Road in Leeds before concluding the day in the North East.

Tomorrow the team will move onto Manchester to visit Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium before concluding on Thursday.

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