2014 FIFA World Cup

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The 2014 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place in South America. On March 7, 2003 FIFA announced that the cup would be held in South America for the first time since Argentina hosted the 1978 FIFA World Cup, in line with its policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup amongst different confederations.

The official bidding procedure for CONMEBOL member associations was opened in December 2006, and the FIFA Executive Committee is scheduled to reach a decision on the host country in November 2007.^[1]

On June 3, 2003 the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) announced that Argentina, Brazil and Colombia wanted to host the 2014 World Cup finals.^[2] By March 17, 2004 the CONMEBOL associations voted unanimously to adopt Brazil as their sole candidate.^[3] The final decision as to hosting will be made sometime in 2008. If Brazil is deemed not to be a viable candidate in accordance with FIFA regulations, the competition may be held elsewhere. Possible bids besides Brazil include Argentina and Chile jointly and Colombia.

1 South American Bids
2 Other Proposed Bids
3 References
4 External links

[edit] South American Bids

[edit] Argentina/Chile

It was suggested that Argentina and Chile could launch a joint bid but later reports suggest it unlikely. On the topic of co-hosting, Blatter advised that FIFA would prefer a single candidate which fulfilled the requirements.^[4] Argentina hosted the 1978 World Cup, and has hosted the Copa América eight times (1916, 1921, 1925, 1929, 1937, 1946, 1959, and 1987). Chile hosted the 1962 World Cup, and has hosted the Copa América six times (1920, 1926, 1941, 1945, 1955, and 1991). Argentina have recently become favourites to host the event, as Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, admitted that his country was not ready to host the 2014 World Cup. According to Argentine media, FIFA has subsequently contacted the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The AFA's president, Julio Grondona, responded that hosting the event would be an honour for his country.^[5]

[edit] Brazil

Brazil is the leading candidate for the World Cup. FIFA president Sepp Blatter himself said on July 4, 2006 that the 2014 World Cup would probably be held in the country. On September 28, he met with the Brazilian President Lula and was quoted as saying he wants the country to prove its capabilities before making a decision. "But the ball is on Brazil's court now," he said.^[6]

On April 13, 2006, after visiting stadiums in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Alegre, Blatter had acknowledged that the country did not have any stadium for the Cup. Lula, in turn, had told journalists on 15 September 2006 that, in his opinion, Brazil would have to build 12 new stadiums to be able to host the World Cup. Lula was quoted as stressing that not even Kyocera Arena, the new state-of-the-art stadium of Clube Atlético Paranaense in Curitiba, meets the requirements, as it has accessibility and parking issues.^[7]

In spite of such shortcomings, both Blatter and Lula seemed optimistic in their meeting. The Brazilian Minister for Sports, Orlando Silva, stressed that "Brazil will do whatever it needs to make sure the World Cup takes place in Brazil." According to Ricardo Teixeira, president of CBF, the Brazilian football federation, restoring stadiums and building new ones would be the responsibility of the private sector.

Potential host cities are already preparing for the tournament. Porto Alegre newspaper Zero Hora ran a report on 16 July 2006 mentioning that Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte are almost certain as host cities in case Brazil is appointed to host the World Cup ^{[citation needed]}. However, since FIFA stipulates a minimum of eight and a maximum of 10 host cities, there are many other likely venues for World Cup matches. Zero Hora mentioned Florianópolis, whose Estádio Orlando Scarpelli, owned by Figueirense Futebol Clube, will likely be remodelled aiming at hosting World Cup matches, as well as a few cities in the Centre, North and North-East, such as Fortaleza, Salvador, Recife, Belém, Goiânia and the capital Brasília.

Brazil hosted the 1950 World Cup, and has hosted the Copa América four times (1919, 1922, 1949, and 1989). Rio de Janeiro will host the Pan American Games in 2007 and is already preparing to receive the competition by investing in infra-structure, including the construction of an Olympic Village, an Olympic Stadium and the restoration of the legendary Maracanã. The organization of the games may prove decisive for Brazil to show its ability to host a World Cup. However, CBF chief media officer Rodrigo Paiva was quoted as saying in mid-2006 that even after such restoration Maracanã will not yet be ready to host World Cup matches because the current restoration is not aimed at meeting FIFA standards.

On 13 December 2006, The Brazilian Football Confederation announced that they have officially launched a bid to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[8] Ricardo Teixeira, the president of CBF, signed the letter to ensure an official bid in Tokyo. He signed the letter in the presence of CONMEBOL president and general secretary Nicolas Leoz and Eduardo De Luca

[edit] Colombia

The president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, announced on July 15, 2006 that Colombia would become a candidate to host the 2014 World Cup. ^[9] During his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games, Uribe said: "By seeing how things were done to organise these Games, I think Colombia is capable of hosting a football World Cup. I'm sure we will achieve it and will do it very well." Uribe has put vice-president Francisco Santos Calderón in charge of the project. Colombia had been set to be the host of the 1986 World Cup, but the hosting was later given to Mexico, due to economic issues, disagreements with FIFA and concerns about the unstable situation in Colombia at the time. Colombia has hosted the Copa América once (2001).

[edit] Venezuela

As of 2006, Venezuela has no stadium with the required minimum capacity of 40 000^{[citation needed]}, but in the upcoming years, seven arenas with these sizes are to be built [1]. This could make Venezuela a potential candidate.

[edit] Other Proposed Bids

Although the continental rotation ensures that South America will host the 2014 World Cup, the following bids were mentioned:

[edit] Australia

South Australian premier Mike Rann put forward a proposal for Australia to host the 2014 event. He was backed by Prime Minister John Howard who said that Australia has proven it can host world sporting events. Football Federation Australia President, Frank Lowy who has also expressed considerable interest in the proposal and is amid negotiations to formally put forward Australia's hosting proposal. ^[10] Australia is now part of the Asian Football Confederation which has not hosted since 2002, having in January 2006 left the Oceania Football Confederation which has never hosted. Despite Australia's large number of capable stadiums (because of Melbourne and Sydney's recent Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games) and its good performance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, many believe Australia may have to wait until 2018 or later before it will stand a chance of hosting. Australia hosted the OFC Nations Cup twice (1998, and 2004), and four-way co-hosted once (1996).

[edit] Jordan/Iraq

In 2004, the football federations of Jordan and Iraq were mulling the bid to host the World Cup. "The situation at the moment would make any bid ludicrous," Crown Prince Faisal al-Hussein of Jordan was quoted as saying in his interview to The Times and Guardian newspapers. "What will things be like in five years time? It could be a very prosperous nation. If the conditions are right, people will take it seriously." ^[11]^[12]

[edit] United States

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has expressed interest since the 2002 FIFA World Cup to offer a bid for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Given the support soccer now has in the U.S., USSF now Immediate Past President Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia is confident that the U.S. can put together a very strong bid. ^[13] The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup, plus the 1999 and 2003 Women's World Cups (the latter on short notice, as original host China was forced to relinquish hosting duties due to the SARS outbreak in that country). The U.S. has also hosted the Gold Cup all eight times it has been contested, serving as sole host six times (1991, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2005) and cohost with Mexico twice (1993, 2003). The U.S. will be sole host again in 2007.