Mexico Pulls 2018 World Cup Bid
England’s bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup has been boosted by the news that rival bidder Mexico has withdrawn its application to stage the flagship football tournament, citing concerns over investment.
‘The global economic environment does not allow the country’s authorities to commit funds towards the necessary works,’ read a statement.
England, Australia, Indonesia, USA, Japan and Russia are the remaining single-nation bids contesting the right to host the two events.
Portugal and Spain and Belgium and the Netherlands have lodged joint bids while Qatar and South Korea have submitted separate bids for 2022 only.
Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, but faced competition from a strong USA bid if it was to convince FIFA to bring the tournament back to the Americas after the 2014 event is staged in Brazil.
The country’s stadiums also require improvements to meet FIFA’s standards although Mexico will host the under-17 version of the World Cup in 2011.
FIFA is due to make a decision on the hosts of both 2018 and 2022 in December 2010 after the 19th edition of the tournament in South Africa.
