Soccer News & Notes – September 30, 2010

South Africa to bid for 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
Thursday, September 30, 2010

South Africa is to put itself forward as a possible host of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 following the successful staging of this year’s FIFA World Cup.

Morocco has already declared its intention to host the tournament in either 2015 or 2017.

“There’s no better way to thank Africa for supporting us during the World Cup than to host the Nations Cup in the same venues,” South Africa Football Association chief Kirsten Nematandani told local newspaper The Sowetan.

“There will be no question of infrastructure because it is here – accommodation [too]…There will be no question of transport because it is here. World-class stadiums are here. We have everything.”

Source: SoccerEx Business Daily

England ready to abandon 2022 World Cup race
Submitted by Matt Cutler on Wed, 29/09/2010

England is set to officially withdraw from the race for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and bid exclusively for the 2018 edition of the tournament.

David Dein, the international president of the bid, said England’s announcement should come as soon as the US confirms it is giving up its candidature for the 2018 as hinted last month.

“We are sure it won’t be long before the United States will withdraw from 2018 leaving themselves a run on 2022,” said Dein. “We are not really interested in 2022, consequently we will almost certainly withdraw from 2022, leaving us with a European battle.”

Even though the England bid has always said their primary goal was to stage the event in eight year’s time, FIFA rules for the race state all candidates for the 2018 edition are automatically entered for the 2022 dispute too, unless stated otherwise.

However, with every non-European bid but the US now focusing only on 2022 competition, it has become clear that the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by one of the European candidates (Belgium/Netherlands, England, Portugal/Spain and Russia) and that four Asian confederation members (Australia, South Korea, Japan and Qatar) plus the US are the contenders for the following edition.

Source: sportbusiness.com

Pricewaterhouse Coopers backs Australia 2022 World Cup bid
Submitted by Matt Cutler on Thu, 23/09/2010

Australia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 has received an extra boost with professional services firm PwC becoming an official partner.

PwC has been a strong supporter of football and Australia’s bid since 2007 by providing ongoing economic analysis, financial, advisory and legal services. Under the new deal PwC becomes the official Professional Services partner of the bid.

Previous PwC analysis estimated that a FIFA World Cup in Australia would generate $3.9 billion in direct expenditure from items like tickets, accommodation and meals

"We are delighted to officially welcome PwC to our football family as we head into this important phase of our bidding campaign," said Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley. “PwC will continue to be instrumental in building our case and helping us show FIFA that a FIFA World Cup in Australia would be good for football, good for Australia and good for the world.“

FIFA’s 24 executive members will select a host for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Zurich on December 2.

Source: sportbusiness.com