By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 23 – Sports Minister Hugh Robertson insists England have by far the strongest case for staging the 2018 World Cup and says the absence of Prime Minister David Cameron during the all-important FIFA technical visit will have no negative impact on the country’s chances.
Even before FIFA’s heavyweight team began scrutinising England’s facilities on their penultimate European leg of 2018 contenders, Robertson said England was the obvious choice to stage the tournament.
“Our football infrastructure, unlike any other bidding country, is already there,” said Robertson, part of the Government team who welcomed the six-strong FIFA delegation.
“I hope they will go back with a really favourable impression.”
With London already staging the Olympics in 2012, Robertson said the World Cup presented a further potential injection of £3 billion ($4.7 billion) for the UK economy and that there were “three crucial arguments” for England winning the vote on December 2.
“The infrastructure is already in place, you can dump this on us tomorrow.
“Secondly, we can guarantee a return for FIFA.
“And we can deliver an international legacy in the way other people can’t.
“These are three really powerful arguments.”
Robertson warned, however, that none of these guaranteed England would win .
“The danger is that this decision is not made for football reasons but other international political concerns get in the way,” he said.
“I’m convinced that in footballing terms, ours is the best bid.
“If Russia were to win, they would have to start building.”
Although the Russians rolled out the red carpet for the FIFA team, Robertson played down Cameron’s decision to remain on holiday in Cornwall.
“I actually think it’s right that he didn’t [cut short his holiday],” Robertson told Talksport radio.
“He spoke to [FIFA President] Sepp Blatter before he went on holiday.
“We want to put footballing reasons right out there in front.
“This is a technical inspection, it’s not the vote.
“That comes later and we’ll need him [Cameron] for that.”
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