June 16 – London Mayor Boris Johnson has blown the trumpet for England’s 2018 World Cup bid after arriving in Cape Town today ahead of the match against Algeria on Friday (June 18).
Johnson gave a loud blast on a vuvuzela, declared the capital as the “jewel in the crown” of the England bid, and said football had the power to “bring society together”.
Speaking on a visit to the V&A Waterfront World Media and Legacy Centre, Johnson said he was in Cape Town to learn lessons on hosting a major sporting event.
The Mayor is preparing for the Olympics in 2012 and also acts as chairman for London United, which is part of the World Cup bid.
He said: “If you want to have a great World Cup you host it in a great world city.
“We are passionate about football in London.
“We want the chance to use football to bring our society together.
“I’m here representing our city as the jewel in the crown of the England bid – a fantastic place with the best football venues on earth, a world city that can host a great World Cup.”
Johnson said he was looking at how Cape Town had prepared itself for the tournament.
And he emphasised the importance of the World Cup in driving economic growth.
He said: “We’re looking at security, we’re looking at crowd control, we’re looking at ticketing, all those kinds of issues.
“A lot of my time now for the next two years I’m going to be thinking about how London can show itself to the rest of the world to the best possible advantage.”
Clutching a World Cup Jabulani football and a vuvuzela, he said: “Certainly the vuvuzela is a very very interesting device.
“It has many attractions.
“It’s a great way of expressing yourself in a loud, vehement, parping kind of way.
“I wonder whether collectively it doesn’t actually detract from the game.
“It just produces a slightly monotone whine doesn’t it?
“And I think maybe that’s not the effect we’re going to want to see in 2012.”
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