11 Feb 2009Indonesia to improve infrastructure for World Cup bid

Football Technology and Stadia

The Indonesian government will make a major investment in improving the country's infrastructure as it bids to host the 2022 World Cup, Xinhua reported yesterday (February 10th).

Fifa regulations require bidding nations to demonstrate that they have ten cities capable of hosting fixtures, while criteria regarding the size and number of stadia must also be met.

Indonesian sports and youth ministry expert Johar Arifin has revealed that the country will have 14 cities prepared as it looks to beat off stiff competition to host the tournament.

He told the news provider: "The three well-prepared cities include Jakarta, Samarinda and Palembang, all of which have good infrastructure for world level sports events.

"We are still preparing another 11 cities for the possible 2022 World Cup in Indonesia."

Mr Arifin added that some of the new stadia that are set to built in Indonesia will be used for the first time during the Southeast Asian Games in 2011 and World Islamic Games in 2013.

The other countries to enter the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups are Spain and Portugal, Holland and Belgium, Russia, the US, Australia, Mexico, Qatar, England, Japan and South Korea.

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