2018 And 2022 World Cup Bidding Begins
The 24-month process to select the hosts of the 2018 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup has officially begun, as the world football governing body opened the bidding process by sending out letters to the eligible member associations.
The letter invited 145 cities for 2018 and 198 cities for 2022 to express their interest to submit a bid for either or both of the World Cups.
The FIFA Executive Committee agreed at its meeting in December in Tokyo that there will be a simultaneous bidding process for both editions of the world tournament. The process will finish in December 2010, when the committee will appoint the hosts.
As it is the biggest single-sport event in the world, FIFA has stressed that the bidding cities understand the importance of the prominent competition.
The governing body claimed it is determined to use the World Cup to reach out to the world as well as benefit the game of football itself and society in general. Therefore, it asked that candidates make sure that whichever city becomes host to use this power in order to achieve positive change.
More details about the bidding process, the calendar and the conditions can be found at http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/99/74/80/20182022invitationtobidcirculare.pdf.
