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As England's football team prepares for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, the nation is also preparing it up its bid to host the tournament in eight years time. Andy Anson, Chief Executive Officer of England's 2018 World Cup Bid, told CRI's London correspondent that his country has everything needed for staging the grand event.
The last time FIFA or( International Federation of Association Football0, or FIFA, awarded England the World Cup was back in 1966 as part of the centenary British football. That year England became the champion beating Germany in the famous penalty shoot off. And the English people think it's time for them to do it again.
"Every weekend in England, 130 thousand teams play football. 7 million players play every week and 3.5 million are involved in organizing. So 10.5 million people every week are involved in football at some level in this country. That's out of a population of 50 million. It really is something that touches every family in the country to some extent."
Apart from the nation's passion for football, Andy Anson says the diversity of the local communities in the 12 proposed host cities, including London, Manchester and Liverpool and will give every team a home-from-home welcome when the 31 national teams arrive.
Besides, the country's experiences in hosting big events are also considered to be in their favour. big fortune.
"You look at Wimbledon, the British Open Golf Championship, the Formula One races. Fantastic events happen every year, trouble free, running in very effective way. And of course, the 2012 Olympics come here. It's a big plus for us, provides venues and infrastructure, importantly demonstrates this country's ability to deliver a major sporting event."
Although England is seen as a competitive candidate especially when it comes to infrastructure and experience, problems within the bid team have been regarded by some as its Achilles' heel.
Last month its Chairman David Triesman was reported to have accused rival bidders Spain and Russia of bribery, which goes against FIFA rules prohibiting bidders from commenting on rival campaigns. Triesman later resigned.
Anson says that's all history.
"If you look at the team we got on the road with David Dein, and myself lobbying, Geoff Thompson, now is the Chairman who's our FIFA executive member, incredibly well regarded. We got an unbelievably strong team and if you look at the ambassadors we've got working with us, David Beckham, and of course Prince William. Any issues that may have happened in the past are no longer issues and the bid team is strong enough to survive anything that happened."
England's biggest rivals are thought to include Russia, and joint bidders, Spain and Portugal, and Holland and Belgium.FIFA will announce the winner of the bid in December.
Tu Yun, CRI news, London.