Into the home straight

Excuse the athletics pun, but that is the situation the English 2018 World Cup bis now finds itself in. A team of FIFA delegates has started a four-day visit to assess facilities in London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sunderland as the tension really hots up for those on the inside. There will also be a tour of Wembley with England coach Fabio Capello and a meeting at Downing Street with the coalition's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Yes, as with all these major sporting decisions, it will get political. But more on that later. England certainly faces stiff competition to host the world's premier football tournament. Russia are thought by many to be the favourites with their vast wealth-post Communism, which has significantly flowed off into their football structure. Just last week, Spartak Moscow spent £9.5 million on Celtic winger Aiden McGeady, and the wages will probably match the transfer fee. There is also a joint bid from Spain and Portugal, as well as bids from USA and an intriguing bid from Qatar. The prospect of taking the World Cup to the Middle East might be quite enticing to FIFA, and should Qatar be given the nod, there would certainly be money pumped into the tournament - in the last ten years, the country's national football league has enticed players such as Gabriel Batistuta, Ailton and Franck Lebouef in the last few years.
By the time the 2018 tournament is held, no matter who the host nation is, it will be over 50 years since England hosted the tournament, and we all know what happened on July 30 1966, in the final at Wembley. The opportunities presented by the World Cup could be massive. There are 16 nominated stadiums to host matches - this is just a preliminary list, which will be cut down in 2013 so those confirmed as host stadiums can start any renovations which are necessary. For the likes of Wembley, Old Trafford, Elland Road and Anfield, they have been there before, hosted major tournament matches (most recently at Euro 96) and also international matches while the new Wembley was under reconstruction. But for cities like Bristol, Plymouth and Milton Keynes, this could be a huge opportunity to bring major tournament football to parts of the country not known for their football prowess and support. It is hard to say what impact hosting the 2018 World Cup would have on the country - there would be nothing on the scale of the regeneration and legacy which will come before, during and after the 2012 Olympics in London. But it will certainly be a momentous occasion, especially for the South West. And this is a crucial point - the bid team has clearly determined to make the tournament, should England be granted it, a national tournament.
However, as those who were involved in England's ultimately failed bid for the 2006 World Cup, there is more to the process than just football, stadiums and infrastructure. We enter an intricate world of geopolitics as murky as anything any government can muster up. Their bid is undoubtedly strong - with Paul 'the pyschic' Octopus joining the ranks of official ambassadors former England captain David Beckham, current captain Rio Ferdinand, 2008 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, musicians Noel Gallacher and Sting, and football luminaries such as Gordon Taylor (chief executive of the PFA), Hope Powell (manager of the England Women's team), Peter Kenyon (former Chief Executive of Manchester United and Chelsea), John Barnes and Fabio Capello. Oh, and Prince William! They have a host of stadiums which are already more than adequate to host World Cup matches, and some more which need some renovation and expansion.
The government are pulling out all the stops - Mr Clegg will be joined by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Sports Minister Hugh Robertson to greet the delegation at No.10, before heading to Wembley to meet Mr Capello and watch a community coaching session. As Mr Robertson said, 'winning the 2018 bid would be fantastic for football in this country. The great thing about our bid is all the infrastructure is already in place. You could technically host the World Cup tomorrow.' While this maybe stretching plausibility slightly, you get is drift. Unfortunately for the FA, there will be other FIFA criteria they need to meet. This doesn't just refer to having enough hotel accommodation, a dedicated fan park in the host cities, support of the public and local media, adeqaute transport links and a high standard of environmental and sustainability initiatives. None of these will be a problem.
Unfortunately, image is as important as substance to FIFA, and the England bid did not exactly help itself in the months leading up to the World Cup in South Africa. There was an attack on the bid from FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (not for the first time, to be fair), and the embarrassing resignations of Sir David Richards and Lord Triesman from the 2018 bid. But since the World Cup in South Africa, there has been a modicum of stability restored to the bid, and the team are ready to welcome FIFA and give as good an impression as is possible. There is a steely determination that this bid would not be derailed in the manner of its 2006 partner, after the horrific violence in Eindhoven and Charleroi at Euro 2000 left it a straight battle between Germany and South Africa.
However, the very factor which the FIFA will see as their greatest strength, could also be their biggest weakness in the face of a strong Russian effort. The FA sees their bid as a 'safe bet' - that seems to be the word which is being bandied around at the moment. After two potentially risky tournaments, in relatively poor areas of the world in South Africa and Brazil, a World Cup in England would be one FIFA would not have to worry about. They could be left to go about their business. Up until a year before the even in South Africa, there were question marks over whether they would be ready to host the World Cup. It is definitely an advantage that the majority of stadiums are already built, with just expansion in capacity needed most - Russia have estimated it will cost about £115 billion to build the stadiums needed and to improve the country's infrastructure for their proposed bid. Compared to that, England would be a 'safe bet', and as the country is undeniably football mad, there would be guaranteed a huge revenue from the event.
As with choosing any host country for any sports event though, there is a flip side. The very fact that England is a 'safe bet' could count against them. Russia are considered to be favourites by many, because they are one of football's 'new' superpowers. Although they missed out on the World Cup this summer, they reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008, and club side Zenit St Petersburg became the first club post-Communism to win a European trophy when they won the UEFA Cup in 2008. And Sepp Blatter, who faces a possible presidential challenge next year, could play a key role. He is well known for his publicity gathering headlines, and having brought the World Cup to Asia and Africa for the first time, it could be an enticing prospect to tap into another new market with potential riches, Eastern Europe. The 2018 edition is likely to be held in Europe, carrying on FIFA's recent trend of rotating the continents for each tournament, meaning the 2022 tournament will probably return to Asia for the first time in 20 years. All of this politics plays a part when it comes to deciding who will host the tournament. Giving the tournament to Russia would give Blatter the opportunity to make a grand political statement, possibly his last of such kind - Russia was a pariah of world politics, let alone football, for almost half a century - and never one to be outspoken, this may well be an opportunity he is keen to push for.
Hence while it is important to perform impeccably in the next four days, with plush stadiums on show, polite and accommodating representatives and, most importantly, transport and trains running on time, this may have no bearing on FIFA's final decision. The race looks impossible to call, and there is the real possibility the race will be won by some last minute political manoeuvring. Such are the politics in FIFA's corridors of power. Getting the politics right and keeping the people who matter happy will be as important as any ambassadors, plans and charts in the next three months.