England are ideal hosts for 2018, minister tells Blatter

Here we go: minister Andy Burnham (left) and FA chief Lord Triesman with FIFA president Sepp Blatter

13 April 2012

Culture secretary Andy Burnham today told FIFA that England would be the easy option for the 2018 World Cup.

England are among 13 countries battling to host the tournament but Burnham believes the quality of stadiums and "football infrastructure" gives the 1966 hosts the edge.

The Cabinet minister, whose brief includes sport, was part of the Football Association's delegation which met the world governing body's president Sepp Blatter in Zurich today.

"The difference with our bid is that we have the infrastructure," said Burnham. "We've invested in our football infrastructure over the last 15 years so we have a fine set of football stadia.

So we're very capable of staging a bid and staging it very well indeed.

"Perhaps, unlike others, we don't have to focus on building the stadia and getting the security right. We can focus on what we can do to take football to the rest of the world as the host country.

"I look back on the 2006 World Cup bid and I understand why we didn't get it. There was a sense of "football's coming home, we're the home of football, give it to us we're the best" and there was perhaps a dash of arrogance."

Burnham also promised the Government's support for the bid, adding on Sky News: "English football shouldn't take anything for granted, we've got a strong case but we're going to have to earn the right to host it. The Government needs to talk to the FA, and I'm here to send a clear message that the Government stands behind the FA in mounting this crucial bid for England."

England's rivals for the right to host the event included Russia and a joint bid from Spain and Portugal. Holland and Belgium have also put in a joint bid while the other hopefuls are USA, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea and Indonesia.

With FIFA will announce the hosts in December 2010.

England coach Fabio Capello also threw his support behind his employer's bid declaring, even though he is Italian, that it is time for football "to come home".

"England would be a fantastic place for the World Cup," he said. "The stadia are okay and the people are fantastic, so it needs to come back here. I hope this will be in 2018 because England is the place where football was born. I think England needs football to come back home."

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