Asian football chief backs England to host World Cup

March 20 – England deserves to host the 2018 World Cup, Mohamed Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has said.

He made his endorsement despite the fact that there are five candidates from his own Confederation for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup tournaments, including Qatar, his own country.
 

Bin Hammam said: “Frankly speaking, England deserve to host the World Cup.

“It’s the best land for football, and the month of July in England will be the best weather conditions for football.

“It’s also good for tourism reasons.

“So many things would actually make the World Cup in England a unique event.

“The 2012 Olympics was a tough competition too and London managed to win that.”

Bin Hammam’s backing will be a massive boost for England’s campaign, especially as he is one of the 24 members of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee who will vote on where the tournament will go at a meeting in Dubai in December 2010 and will dismay Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea, who are all bidding.

He said: “My job is to support a bid from Asia but I prefer that there should be one bid from Asia so all the Asian efforts will be directed behind that one bid.

“With five it would be very difficult for the AFC to support them or ask other confederations to support them.

“The best for Asia is one bid and I hope the bid countries will understand that themselves.”
 

BIn Hammam warned England, though, that they should not be complacent despite their position as favourites.

He said: “his can come down to pure luck.

“There are other great nations bidding too and it is up to each person to find their motivation to vote.”

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