Fifa’s Warner To Fight England 2018 Bid

FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has launched an astonishing personal attack on
England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup stating that he will ‘fight’ against
the move.

Warner, who has been a controversial figure within FIFA since he joined the
organization in 1983, was unequivocal in his views on the potential for England
to host the 2018 tournament.

He stated: ‘If the World Cup were to go to Europe, I’m quite sure, with the
English luck as it is, they won’t get it. There are moves to give it to England.
I must fight that.

‘It will be Italy, Spain, or even France who will get the World Cup if it
goes to Europe. Nobody in Europe likes England. England invented the sport but
has never made any impact on world football.’

Warner, who is also president of South American football governing body
CONCACAF, added that he would battle to bring international football’s premier
tournament to his region, which covers North and Central America and the
Caribbean.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick expressed his disappointment in
Warner’s remarks.

‘On UEFA, we are – alongside Germany – the most well-represented country in
football across committees and working groups. I think frankly they are personal
remarks. I think FIFA will distance themselves from them very quickly.’

The destination of the 2018 World Cup will depend on whether FIFA vote to
keep the current rotation policy by continent when the executive committee meet
later in the year.

The signs are that FIFA will abandon the existing format in favour of a
system that only precludes the continents that held the previous two World Cups
from bidding again, which in 2018 would be Africa and South America.