The idea of a British bid to host the 2030 World Cup is gathering pace after it received the backing of the UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin.
“A UK bid for 2030 would be a wise idea,” Ceferin said. “The infrastructure is very good and in a way, if more countries join the bid there is more chance to win. I think after all these years, it’s time for that part of Europe to get the World Cup.
“I don’t doubt the quality of the bid. But the only thing I will insist is that we have only one European bid. I don’t want Europe to be divided because of the World Cup.”
The FA are expected to spend the next 12 months undertaking a feasibility study before making a decision on whether or not to bid again following their doomed campaign for the 2018 World Cup
As an interesting aside, there is a case to be made that England’s bid in 2010 facilitated the US investigation into Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election.
As part of their preparations for their bid for the 2018 World Cup that was ultimately awarded to Russia after reports that the country bribed their way to the competition, England hired Christopher Steele to investigate the Russian World Cup bid. What Steele found alarmed him so much he reported his findings to the FBI, setting off the investigation that would result in the arrest of a number of FIFA officials in Zurich for corruption.
Steele stayed in touch with that FBI agent and when his next project found him uncovering Trump’s links to Russia, he filled what has now become the infamous ‘Pee tape’ dossier that resulted in Robert Muelller being named as Special Counsel to investigate the matter.
Official bidding for the 2030 World Cup is not yet open but FIFA are said to be favouring multi-country bids after awarding the expanded 2026 tournament to the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
A joint bid is expected from Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Officials from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland held preliminary talks in June and agreed to come back to the subject.
