UK make a ‘pitch’ for soccer showpieces

Article posted by Coliseum, March 4^th, 2021

Image: Wembley Park

The Football Association England joined the Scottish Football Association, Football Association of Wales, Irish Football Association, and Football Association of Ireland in welcoming the UK Government’s pledge of £2.8million to kickstart a potential bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup™.

A statement on the Football Association (FA) website stated that the football associations and Government partners of the UK and Ireland are delighted that the UK Government has committed to support a prospective five-association bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup™.

The UK Government has committed to support a prospective bid from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to host the 2030 chapter of football’s FIFA World Cup™.

Apply for membership

FIFA will formally open the bidding process for the 2030 World Cup in 2022.

The statement further read, “We will continue to undertake feasibility work to assess the viability of a bid before FIFA formally open the process in 2022. Staging a FIFA World Cup™ would provide an incredible opportunity to deliver tangible benefits for our nations. If a decision is made to bid for the event, we look forward to presenting our hosting proposals to FIFA and the wider global football community.”

Other bids being lined up for the 2030 World Cup include a joint proposal from Spain and Portugal, and a separate proposal from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. China has also evinced interest in playing host to the sporting extraordinaire.

The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar, while the 2026 edition will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

The Football Association (FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland (UK) and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations.

The Football Association of Wales is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales (UK), and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women’s team, as well as the Welsh national futsal team. It is a member of FIFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

The Irish Football Association is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland (UK). It organized the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954 became the Northern Ireland national football team.

The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland (a country in Northwestern Europe).

The Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, has offered to stage all Euro 2020 fixtures in Britain as UK is going great guns on the vaccine rollout front and is surging ahead of the continent. The Prime Minister cannot wait to raise a toast riding high on the vaccine success.

The Euro 2020 is scheduled to be the 16^th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organized by the UEFA. It is scheduled to be held from June 11^th, 2021 to July 11^th, 2021.

The stadia holding the soccer showpiece are Wembley Stadium, London (UK), Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy, Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan, Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Arena Nationala, Bucharest, Romania, Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, San Mames, Bilbao, Spain, Puskas Arena, Budapest, Hungary, Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, and Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark.

‘The Sun’ stated that the soccer extravaganza’s semifinals and final are already penciled in for Wembley Stadium in July 2021 but Johnson asserted recently, “Any other matches they want hosted, we are certainly on for that!”

It could kickstart a “bonanza” decade of footy, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak set to loosen purse strings into funding the UK and Ireland’s joint pitch to host the 2030 World Cup.

‘The Sun’ quoted Johnson as stating, “We are very, very keen to bring football home in 2030. I do think it’s the right place. It’s the home of football, it’s the right time. It will be an absolutely wonderful thing for the country.”

Johnson felt that as Britain was basking in the vaccine rollout success glory, hosting the European spectacle this summer would serve as a great PR exercise for the UK’s 2030 bid. He was also of the opinion that the country – bruised totally by coronavirus – need to play more sport so the country can “build back fitter” from the deadly respiratory disease.

Pilots will be held in the UK to gauge how fans can get back to the arenas in a safe manner.

With all COVID-19 restrictions scheduled to be lifted by mid-June, it is hoped that – with vaccine passports and mass testing – Wembley Stadium would be full house for the July Euro 2020 finals.

Wembley Stadium is a football stadium in Wembley, London. With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe.

Ministers are in talks with UEFA amid fears the current plan to host the contest across 11 European cities will be sunk by soaring COVID-19 cases in Europe which is still fighting a bitter battle against the fatal respiratory disease.

Johnson asserted, “We are hosting the Euros. We are hosting the semis and the final. If there’s, you know, if they want any other matches that they want hosted, we’re certainly on for that but at the moment that’s where we are with UEFA.”

And a summer of football this year would act as a springboard for Britain in demonstrating the island in the United Kingdom as the perfect venue for the World Cup in nine years’ time.

The Prime Minister insisted, “One of the things we want to do is we want to bounce back fitter. We want to bounce back better, but also we want to do much more to encourage sport in this country post-pandemic.”

He stated, “We want to see a bonanza of football in the years ahead.”

But he insisted that this summer’s revelry would not be possible without the “absolutely stunning” ongoing success of the country’s vaccine rollout – “The vaccination program has given us a great deal more certainty than we might otherwise have had.”

Britain’s homegrown Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine – whose one of the biggest production partners is Serum Institute of India – is reportedly leading to declining deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and this is the reason why Johnson is so upbeat.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 250 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue