From Times Online
David Beckham presented England’s 2018 World Cup bid to Fifa today and spoke of the "passion and emotion" the nation would bring to the tournament, by declaring "football runs through our veins”.
The former England captain arrived in Zurich to hand over the 1,752-page bid book which he hopes will persuade Fifa to award England the right to stage the World Cup. The 35-year-old was accompanied by Lord Triesman, the FA and bid chairman, Andy Anson, the bid chief executive, Britain’s Fifa vice-president Geoff Thompson and Nothemba Bambiso, a 17-year-old South African who lives in a children’s home and coaches in an FA-backed township project.
On the day it was revealed that Beckham will accept a role in Fabio Capello’s World Cup coaching staff, the 35-year-old emphasised the England's historic links with football and promised to stage a World Cup like no other.
“I’m here on behalf of our fans,” Beckham said. “Football runs through our veins. We are all brought up on it. It’s truly an honour to be here. On behalf of our team, the delegation and our fans, we present you with our bid book.”
The hosts will be announced on December 2, with Russia and Australia also among the bidders, but the FA have made no secret of their desire to use Beckham to promote the bid across the world. England’s most capped outfield player said winning the vote to stage the World Cup would rank among his greatest achievements. “It would certainly be up there. What the prospect of having the World Cup brings is huge. I know because I’ve experienced it.”
In thanking the English delegation Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, referred to England as the “motherland” of football and revealed that he had spoken to David Cameron who had personally endorsed the bid.
“Yesterday I received a phone call from the new Prime Minister,” Blatter said. "Not only did he express his determination to be behind the bid but he is also behind the World Cup in 2010.
The next milestone in the bid process is Fifa’s technical inspection at the end of August. This ended in tears for England’s ill-fated 2006 campaign when they were judged worse than South Africa and Germany. This time around, however, England officials are confident they will suffer no such setback.
Ian Riley, the director of England 2018’s technical bid, had the same role for South Africa’s bid for the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and has been careful to ensure there will be no repeat. “I genuinely believe we present a low-risk option to Fifa” he said.
"One of the biggest risk profiles of staging any major event is construction and we have a really good balance of existing stadiums and new builds and that alleviates any risk concerns that you may have.”
The final vote will be taken by Fifa’s executive committee on December 2. It is expected that the 2018 tournament will go to Europe, where England are up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium.
The other countries expected to fight it out for the World Cup in 2022 are Australia, United States, Qatar, Korea and Japan.
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