Representatives of the football ruling bodies in the United States, Mexico and Canada on Monday formally announced plans to bid jointly for the 2026 World Cup.
Formal word, after weeks of speculation, was presented Monday at a news conference in NY with all three soccer associations joining together to present a proposal for what would be the largest World Cup ever with 80 games and 48 teams.
Gulati said 60 of the tournament's matches would be staged in the United States, with Canada and Mexico hosting 10 games each.
The election of Donald Trump as USA president has heightened political tensions with neighbours Mexico, but Gulati insisted Trump supported and actively encouraged their participation in the bid.
But Gulati downplayed those concerns, saying that the bid has "the full support of the United States government" and that Trump himself is pleased that Mexico is a part of the plan. "Starting today, the USA gets back control of its borders", Trump said. "We are not at all concerned at some of the concerns that some people may raise", he added.
The World Cup was last held in the region at United States of America 94, while Mexico hosted in 1970 and 1986.
The joint effort would see the US hosting about 60 World Cup games, with Mexico and Canada splitting the final 20 games between them, The Guardian reported.
Mexico has hosted the World Cup twice before - the 1970 finals won by a Pele-inspired Brazil and the 1986 tournament won by an Argentina team led by Diego Maradona. Federation Internationale de Football Association would do the bid evaluations by February of 2020 and in May of that year the sites will be chosen.
Ellen rips United a new one over recent passenger controversies
Dao was the only passenger who did not agree to leave after being chosen. "That is not who our family at United is", he said. Three people got off the flight, but the fourth said he was a doctor and needed to get home to treat patients on Monday.
With Europe hosting the event in 2018 (Russia) and Asia in 2022 (Qatar), the only opposing bids could come from Africa and South America.
In some ways, the growth of soccer in Canada hinges on the success of the mega-bid, which will be voted on by or before 2020.
The 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation is expected to bring in $5.5 billion for worldwide soccer's governing body, including money from ticket sales, sponsorship and media rights.
He acknowledged Mexico would not have been able to place a solo bid on a tournament that, in 2026, will expand to 48 teams from 32 and grow by 16 matches. "We have a facility that has a lot of the things that we'd be looking for in it, and we're a great host city".
Canada's largest arena is Commonwealth Stadium (56,000) in Edmonton, Alberta, which was renovated ahead of the 2015 Women's World Cup. The BBC also notes that because of a rotational policy, European and Asian countries will be barred from bidding for 2026, since Russian Federation and Qatar have already won the right to host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, respectively. The bids will be evaluated over the next 15 months, with the process being completed by February 2020.
The bid, launched in NY on Monday, is likely the only realistic option for FIFA's 211 member federations who are scheduled to choose the 2026 host in May 2020. The US will host every match from the quarter-finals and the following rounds.
At the press conference today, the president of U.S. Soccer felt compelled to say in his opening remarks what Trump thought of the bid.
Comments