England 2018 Receives Boost In Fifa Report

The England 2018 World Cup bid has received a boost as FIFA branded it ‘low risk’ in its evaluation report of the 2018 and 2022 bid documents.

However, in the published summary of the report, FIFA’s inspectors have raised issues with all of the four bids for 2018.

The governing body added concerns are still in place over its training camps and the number of hotels presented in England’s bid.

Meanwhile, England 2018 chief executive Andy Anson has blasted the BBC over the timing of its upcoming Panorama expose programme on FIFA.

The BBC will air the programme on 29th November – three days before the FIFA committee will vote on the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments and Anson says the move is ‘sensationalist’ and ‘unpatriotic’ of the broadcasting corporation.

Anson said after a meeting with BBC director general Mark Thompson: ‘I’m incredibly disappointed with the timing of what the BBC is proposing with Panorama.’

”If they truly believe there’s a journalistic reason for this, they could have done it any time in the last two years; to do it like this is sensationalism.’

England’s 2018 bid rivals, joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Holland/ Belgium, were both well received with a few ‘medium risks’ over stadia and team facilities, although FIFA did highlight that joint bids present a larger challenge.

‘It should be noted that a co-hosting concept could pose challenges regarding the joint-operational delivery of the World Cup in terms of ensuring consistent standards and implementation in various areas such as legal, IT, frequencies, safety and security,’ read a FIFA statement.

Russia’s bid received a blow after FIFA raised some criticisms of its transport system – labeling it high risk and saying in the report: ‘The country’s vastness and its remoteness from other countries, coupled with the fact that the high-speed railway network is limited…would put pressure on the air traffic infrastructure.’

The 24 FIFA executive committee members who are voting on the 2018 and 2022 hosts have been provided with the full confidential reports judging 17 separate categories on risk – including overall operational risk.

Among the 2022 bidding countries, Qatar has been given a high overall operational risk rating due to the searing heat of the country’s summer.

Whilst Australia, United States, Japan, Qatar, Russia and South Korea are all competing for the for 2022 tournament.