Saturday, November 04, 2006
World Cup bid
The Government have been warned that their bid to stage the World Cup in England in 2018 must not be pitched as a British tournament.
Sports Minister Richard Caborn said yesterday that it was Chancellor Gordon Brown's hope that a successful bid would result in matches taking place "all over the country, which would bring Scotland, Wales and the whole of England into play."
A spokesman for Caborn later stressed that the Minister did not mean matches would be played in Wales or Scotland, and David Will, the Fifa vice-president who represents the four British nations on the world body, said:
" If England win the right to stage the 2018 Cup, it would be impossible for matches to be played in Scotland and Wales. As far as Fifa is concerned Scotland and Wales are, in footballing terms, as much a foreign country as England and France are."
Sports Minister Richard Caborn said yesterday that it was Chancellor Gordon Brown's hope that a successful bid would result in matches taking place "all over the country, which would bring Scotland, Wales and the whole of England into play."
A spokesman for Caborn later stressed that the Minister did not mean matches would be played in Wales or Scotland, and David Will, the Fifa vice-president who represents the four British nations on the world body, said:
" If England win the right to stage the 2018 Cup, it would be impossible for matches to be played in Scotland and Wales. As far as Fifa is concerned Scotland and Wales are, in footballing terms, as much a foreign country as England and France are."
