By David Owen
November 16 – FIFA inspectors have criticised England’s 2018 World Cup bid for potentially exposing world football’s governing body to “excessive” hotel pricing and booking conditions.
However, none of the four bidders has obtained an unblemished report from the FIFA Evaluation Group chaired by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, leaving the three front-runners – England, Russia and Spain/Portugal – apparently free to continue slugging it out with little more than two weeks to go before the critical December 2 vote.
A summary of the report – expected to be made publicly available tomorrow, but seen by insideworldfootball – finds three main shortcomings in England’s bid.
On accommodation, the report says that while the bid proposes a large inventory, “the fact that not many of the rooms have been contracted in full compliance with FIFA’s template Hotel Agreement requires further analysis and potentially renegotiation”.
It goes on:
“FIFA could be exposed to excessive pricing and booking conditions and the constituent groups may choose not to use the relevant properties.”
A failure to contract the required number of venue-specific training sites and team hotels is also highlighted.
On TV rights, FIFA calls for the UK listed-event regulations to be “suspended in accordance with the undertakings given in Government Guarantee No. 6 (Protection and Exploitation of Commercial Rights)”.
Finally, the necessary government support had been secured “with the exception of the reservations and qualifications to four Government Guarantees as contained in the Government Legal Statement”.
The inspectors’ verdict on Russia – widely seen as the front-runner in the race – highlights the amount of construction that would be required, with transport upgrades apparently a particular concern.
“Any delay in the completion of the transport projects could,” the inspectors write, “impact on FIFA’s tournament operations and the proposed installation of temporary facilities could impose a high cost burden.
“In particular, a greater number of direct flight connections to major international airports would have to be made available from the majority of candidate host city airports.”
The inspectors also warn of a possible impact on European TV ratings and note that the rack rate for a standard room in the proposed FIFA headquarters hotel is “high and should be reviewed”.
The report also finds numerous shortcomings with the other leading contender, the joint Spanish-Portuguese bid, including a warning that co-hosting “could pose challenges” and would require “further key operational details”.
Perhaps the most surprising – and potentially worrying – lacuna is that “based on the Bid Book, a clear operational concept has not been specified for safety and security”.
However, the inspectors go on to assert that “international standards for major events are likely to be met”.
The bid is also criticised for providing insufficient detail regarding information and communications technology and a budget format that “deviates slightly” from that required.
The necessary government support has been secured with “minor steps” to be taken to ensure full compliance.
The report may end any lingering prospect of the Dutch/Belgian bid pulling off a shock victory.
Numerous flaws are highlighted including a risk of “excessive” hotel prices, a legal risk to FIFA that is rated “medium” compared with “low” for the other three bidders and the failure to secure “necessary government support”.
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