Next week the the campaign for the United States to be selected as host of the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022 will move to the next phase for the USA Bid Committee when the FIFA Inspection Delegation visits the U.S. next week, Monday, September 6 through Thursday, September 9.
The six-person delegation will arrive in New York City on Monday for a three-day visit of five U.S. cities representing the 18 candidate host cities of the United States bid - New York/New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Miami, Dallas and Houston. During this tour, the FIFA Inspection Delegation will have the opportunity to experience firsthand some of the U.S. bid's proposed stadiums, training sites, FIFA Fan Fest venues, transportation, hotels, media facilities and much more.
‘On behalf of our cities and people, the USA Bid Committee is honored to welcome the FIFA Delegation to the United States,' said Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer and chairman of USA Bid Committee. ‘Our respect for the importance of this visit is matched only by our passion for the game and our commitment to deliver a bid that will be considered worthy of hosting the FIFA World CupTM in 2018 or 2022. To the FIFA Family and the global soccer community, we pledge and promise our very best and look forward to sharing our vision with the FIFA Delegation throughout the tour next week.'
Gulati and the USA Bid Committee will host the FIFA Inspection Delegation led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the president of the Chile Football Association. The FIFA Delegation also includes: Dr. Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup local organizing committee in South Africa; Jürgen Müller, FIFA Head of Event Management; Wolfgang Eichler, FIFA Media Officer; David Fowler, FIFA Marketing; and Julio Avellar, FIFA Competitions.
Here are some of the highlights of the tour:
- Visits to proposed FIFA World Cup stadiums for all five markets: the New Meadowlands Stadium for New York/New Jersey, FedExField for Washington D.C., Sun Life Stadium for Miami, Cowboys Stadium for Dallas and Reliant Stadium for Houston.
- A tour of Red Bull Arena, home of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. Red Bull Arena opened this year and is an example of the training sites proposed for 2018 or 2022.
- Tours of a number of proposed sites for FIFA World Cup related activities, such as Preliminary and Final Draws, FIFA Congress, International Broadcast Center and FIFA Fan Fests.
- Meetings with soccer figures, city leaders and celebrities in each market.
The USA Bid Committee will distribute a media wrap-up at the end of each day of the FIFA Technical Inspection Tour, detailing the activities in each one of the markets. The tour will also present the opportunity for the USA Bid Committee to convey many of the legacy aspects of the USA Bid to the FIFA Delegation, including those in the soccer, social and environmental areas.
For Houston (and Dallas), the most important part of the tour occurs next Thursday when the FIFA Delegation makes their way to Houston and Dallas to see what Texas can bring to the World Cup. In Dallas, the delegation will tour the Dallas Convention Center, one of the proposed FIFA Congress sites, and Cowboys Stadium, one of the tournament's proposed stadiums. The group will then travel to Houston where they will tour Reliant Stadium, one of the tournament's proposed stadiums, the George R. Brown Convention Center, one of the proposed sites for the International Broadcast Center and will then be greeted by a group of student ambassadors from Houston-area schools before returning to Europe.
Houston-area representatives feel that the success of the MLS All-Star Game in July proved both to U.S. Soccer and the FIFA Delegation that Houston is a city ready for world-class soccer match-ups and would be an excellent host city for a future World Cup.
The USA Bid Committee on May 14 submitted to FIFA its comprehensive bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022. The 24‑member FIFA Executive Committee will make its decision on hosts for both tournaments on Thursday, December 2, at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
About The USA Bid Committee
The USA Bid Committee is a nonprofit organization created to prepare a successful application to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022 on behalf of the United States Soccer Federation. U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati is Chairman of the USA Bid Committee, David Downs is the Executive Director and President Bill Clinton is the Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors that includes New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, comedian Drew Carey, former boxer Oscar De La Hoya, American soccer stars Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm, actor Morgan Freeman, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger, director Spike Lee, actor Brad Pitt and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Fox Soccer Channel is an official sponsor of the U.S. Bid. The U.S. Bid includes 18 candidate host cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C. The U.S. Bid also features 21 currently existing stadiums, 18 of which have been built or renovated in the last 20 years and all of which are in compliance with FIFA requirements. With an average capacity of more than 76,000 spectators, the stadiums in the U.S. Bid offer the availability of a World Cup-record five million tickets that would generate $1 billion in ticket sales.