Benelux in for 2018 bidding process

Brussels, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have informed FIFA president Sepp Blatter that they will throw in a joint bid for the 2018 World Cup.

The nations acted as co-hosts for EURO 2000. Luxembourg would be a restricted host, meaning the nation would not get an automatic qualifying bid usually granted to the host nation.

The only World Cup with a joint bid was 2002, which was staged by Japan and South Korea.

Blatter had lobbied to have an open bidding process for the 2018 tournament, wishing to have an open format instead of the continental rotation.

He has stated in the past that he is against joint bids, and likes to have one main contact for the local organizing committee.

"We have presented ourselves explicitly as one candidate and not with two separate organising committees," Dutch FA chairman Jeu Sprengers was quoted as saying on www.knvb.nl, the association's web site. "Normally there are 15 or 20 bigger associations who can handle the job. But in Blatter's opinion Belgium and the Netherlands can be a good example to smaller football associations."

With the event now a bidding process, England has indicated it will make a try, while Australia, China, Japan, Russia, Spain and the United States are reviewing bid possibilities.

FIFA will decide a host for 2018 in 2011.

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