The Next FIFA World Cup

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Marios Lefkaritis, one of the 24 men who’ll decide where soccer’s World Cup is staged in 2018 and 2022, said his vote will be based on meetings with bidders and technical analysis not media reports.

The future venues for sport’s most-watched event will be decided by a Dec. 2 ballot of world governing body FIFA’s executive committee, which has come under scrutiny after two members were suspended for telling undercover reporters from the Sunday Times they’d exchange their World Cup votes for cash. Members of England’s 2018 bid committee feel the story has damaged the country’s chances, according to U.K. media reports.

“With all respect to the media I’m not influenced by them,” Lefkaritis said in an interview today. “I think that it’s not correct to base the decision on what the media say.”

The Cypriot declined to say whether he’d yet decided on where his vote will go.

Nigerian Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temaraii were suspended from the committee days after the Sunday Times report was published on Oct. 17. The duo may be expelled on Nov. 17 when FIFA’s ethics committee rules on their conduct.

FIFA will hold a special meeting of its executive board two days later to discuss the fallout of the ruling and also investigate reports that Qatar’s 2022 bid committee may have colluded with a joint Spain/Portugal offer for 2018.

Russia, England and a combined effort from the Netherlands/Belgium are also bidding on 2018. The U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea join Qatar in vying to host the event four years later.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said last month his organization made a mistake when it decided to run both races at the same time. Lefkaritis agreed.

“That’s difficult,” he said. “I treat them separately; otherwise you are making collusion with yourself. If you don’t do that you aren’t going to be subjective.”

A report produced for the U.S. bid committee said staging the World Cup would be worth around $5 billion. World leaders such as U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and former U.S. President Bill Clinton will be present for their country’s final presentations to the committee, bringing more focus on the bids and voters.

“I haven’t felt the pressure,” Lefkaritis said “I can feel the pressure for the bidders but not for me. It’s understandable and you can see they have a lot of pressure on them.”

World Cup - Sport, Entertainment or Business

Football is no longer just a simple sport activities, it can be an entertainment and business as well. No wonder they get harder to be the host of next Wold Cup event. This is what i found.


U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will travel to Zurich next month to urge FIFA, soccer’s governing body, to award England the right to stage the 2018 World Cup.

“The prime minister wants to offer the strongest possible support for what he thinks is an excellent bid,” Cameron’s office said in a statement.

Cameron has thrown his weight behind England’s attempt to host the tournament, using meetings on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Seoul to push fellow leaders to give their support. He will do the same at a NATO summit in Lisbon next week. Yesterday he met FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon, a South Korean.

FIFA will decide in Zurich on Dec. 2 on where the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 are staged. England, Russia and joint offers from Spain and Portugal and the Netherlands and Belgium are vying for 2018. England won the competition in 1966, the only time it staged the event.

The U.S., Australia, Qatar, South Korea and Japan are competing to stage sport’s most watched event in 2022. Former President Bill Clinton, the honorary chairman of the U.S. bid committee, will also be going to Zurich to make a pitch to FIFA.

Cameron held a separate meeting yesterday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and promised him “a good clean fight,” according to British officials who were present.

FIFA is investigating two of its 24-member decision-making panel after the Sunday Times newspaper alleged Nigeria’s Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii told undercover reporters they’d exchange their votes for cash. The findings will be announced on Nov. 17.