Australia joins England in race for 2018 World Cup

Australia is thankful for FIFA's suggestion that the nation bid on the 2022 World Cup, but it will push for 2018 just the same.

FIFA's rotation process has ended, opening the bidding to all comers from all continents.

Football Federation Australia Frank Lowy said he planned to still go forward with the aim of hosting the 2018 tournament. That would pit Australia with early frontrunner England and, perhaps, the United States, which is mulling a possible bid.

But as Australia enters the picture, England was taken down a bit by FIFA vice president Jack Warner. He said that England is not viewed as a part of continental Europe, and that the nation should forge tighter bonds with UEFA.

CONCACAF president Warner had voted three times out of five for England to host the 2006 World Cup.

"The catalyst of my support for England for the bid for 2018 is because I don't believe any country of England's football pedigree should not have a world cup for almost 50 years," Warner told the BBC. "England, a country that invented the sport and with all the facilities England has, has not hosted a world cup and I think it is wrong.

"England has to try to remove or reduce what people perceive to be arrogance — rightly or wrongly. What England needs is to have somebody like a David Beckham to be its ambassador out there to sell the idea. Beckham is loved by all. Beckham is like Pele and therefore use him to sell the idea."

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.