Warner U-turn boosts England 2018 hopes

November 30, 2009

By Josh Allen

England’s hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup have been giving a boost by the news that FIFA’s Jack Warner is now backing the bid.

The FIFA vice-president had previously labelled the bid “lightweight” and said in October: “if they [England] do not get their act together they will lose. You have no divine right to anything — you have to earn it.”

However, following a meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Warner has dramatically changed his stance and said: “Brown felt England’s time had come. I agreed.

“England has the best infrastructure to stage the tournament. After a 52-year gap this is England’s time.”

As well as vice-president, Warner is also head of the Concacaf union and as such, controls three of the 24 votes on FIFA’s executive committee. The vote is due to take place in December next year and Warner’s influence could prove to be decisive.

The meeting with Gordon Brown took place in Trinidad on Friday, with the Prime Minister quick to point out that the government was completely committed to the bid and that he was willing to do: “whatever is necessary” to support it.

Afterwards, Warner seemed suitably impressed. He said: “It was an exceptionally good meeting - it was the best case I have heard for a long time about the World Cup being in England.

“I was very impressed by Brown’s humility, his sincerity, his knowledge of the game, and most importantly he didn’t feel England had any divine right [to host the tournament].”

Up to this point, the bid had been plagued by problems and just last week, Premier League chairman, Sir Dave Richards, resigned from the team. However, the remaining members will now be hoping to build on Friday’s progress, with another big meeting scheduled for this week.

Warner explained: “I will meet David Beckham in Cape Town. These are not for my ego, but they are the assets that the bid should be using and I am happy to see that they are being used.”

In other sports news, the odds for the Cheltenham Gold Cup are starting to heat up, so these could be worth keeping an eye on.

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