Football Partnerships

Philip Anschutz, a founding investor of Major League Soccer (MLS), today accepted an invitation to join the Board of Directors for the USA Bid Committee in its endeavor to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to the United States in 2018 or 2022.

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President Obama has put his stamp of approval on the Unites States bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup and has written a letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter with his endorsement.

President Obama is known to have a passion for sports from playing pick up basketball to hinting at a college playoff for Division 1 football.

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By JACK BELL

The United States was among 12 candidates on four continents to submit bids to FIFA in the hope of hosting the 2018 or the 2022 World Cup.

FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, has set a deadline of May 2010 for the bidders to provide paperwork in support of their bids. The winning countries will be named in December 2010 after vetting and inspections by FIFA’s 24-person executive committee. The next World Cup will be played next year in South Africa, and Brazil will host the 2014 event.

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China, which had been widely expected to make a bid to stage either the 2018 or 2022 football World Cup, has decided not to enter an application to FIFA.

The deadline for applications passed yesterday. A spokesman for the Chinese Football Association said in October that China was mulling over a bid and president of FIFA Sepp Blatter said last month that the China was among 10 potential bidders.

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Soccer’s governing body FIFA announced on Saturday that the host country for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments will be decided at the same time.

Following an executive committee meeting in Tokyo, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the bid process will be launched next month with the two hosts to be announced in December 2010.

There would be no block on countries bidding for both tournaments.

Blatter confirmed there was interest from North America to Australia. He said England, which has not staged a World Cup since 1966, would be a front-runner for 2018.

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