30 Jan 2009Blatter: Joint bids for World Cup less likely to succeed

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

England's chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup have seemingly been given a boost today (January 30th) after Fifa president Sepp Blatter suggested that joint bids could fail.

Portugal and Spain have already officially submitted their bid to world football's governing body and Holland and Belgium are expected to follow suit before the February 2nd deadline.

Having revealed that the other countries to have registered their interest formally are Russia, Japan, Qatar and Indonesia, Blatter confirmed that a single host would be preferable.

He said: "As long as we have single-country bids which provide all the necessary guarantees we will reject co-hosting bids."

Blatter's comments were backed up by Chuck Blazer, the US Fifa executive committee member who will be part of the 24-man panel making a decision next December.

"For the 2010 bid, the executive committee at that time decided we would not accept joint bids after the experience of 2002, which manifested itself as a much more difficult logistical situation with two countries," he said.

Fifa will be considering the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, although the applicants do not have to state whether they are bidding for one or both.

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