| England 2018 World Cup bid gets thumbs up from US Fifa delegate • Chuck Blazer speaks of a 'very viable commercial project'• Rivals Russia come up long on style but short on substanceThe England 2018 World Cup bid has received a significant boost from Chuck Blazer, the US official who is one of the 24 members of Fifa's executive committee who will vote in December to determine the destination of the tournament.Blazer, the general secretary of the US federation and one of North and Central America's representatives on the executive committee, said: "I am looking for what is good for the fans, the teams and the health and welfare of the sport – and maintaining the pre-eminence of the sport in the world that it already has. It has to be a very viable commercial project."That will give England, who have pledged 82 team base camps, 400,000 hotel rooms for fans – appropriate to whatever their budget – and a projected profit for Fifa of at least £161m, as well as free public transport for match-ticket-holders between cities, room for encouragement.Blazer's comments came on a good day for England, and a bad one for the nation widely perceived as their chief rival to host the 2018 tournament, Russia, at a staged debate pitching the heads of the four European bids against each other at Stamford Bridge.Russia's representative, Alexei Sorokin, gave a slick presentation that was long on style but short on substance. In response to the specific question about how much profit the Russian bid would generate for Fifa, Sorokin appeared evasive. "It is difficult to measure the profit of an event that is so great, so impactful to measure its benefits, profits and losses," he said. "What you call a cost we call an investment: $6bn [£3.8bn]. We have a lot of construction to do and much of it is under way right now."Whereas Russia 2018-22 has made great play of the infrastructure spending that will be driven by the World Cup, Sorokin admitted that most of it has been committed irrespective of whether the World Cup comes to Russia. "It is difficult to discern the costs of the [World Cup] infrastructure in general. The Kaliningrad region alone has a development budget of $14bn between now and 2016." He added: "We wish there to be a tangible legacy to Fifa, with an open, democratic Russia, to demonstrate the achievements of the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union."The joint Spanish and Portuguese bid, whose spokesman told the Leaders in Football conference that his nations are similarly well-equipped to England, hopes to have a significant commercial impact. But, though the Iberian countries are bidding jointly for the event, it was understandable that the spokesman played up Spain's credentials as world and European champions."There is no need for Portugal or Spain to invest in infrastructure; it is a marginal investment and new stadiums are planned regardless of the World Cup," he said. "We have done well in recent tournaments. The attendance in La Liga every week is more than 80%. In 1982 our vision of the World Cup was that we wanted to invest in a grassroots programme focusing not only on the technical aspects of playing football but also on the values that are truly needed in today's society. For the 2018 World Cup we want to improve that system that is admired round the world."Belgium and Holland pushed their campaign as being at the demographic, political and economic heart of Europe. A spokesman for the bid said it was "doing better than the English media believes". Whether that is true will become clear only with events in Zurich on 2 December.World Cup 2018Matt Scottguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
England 2018 bid team tempt Fifa with promise of £161m profit from tournament England 2018 promised to deliver a record profit to Fifa of more than £160 million if they win the right to host the World Cup. telegraph.co.uk |
Spurs 'cannot contemplate selling Bale' • 'Selling him would send out all the wrong signals'• Spurs manager unhappy with defending against InterGareth Bale announced his talent to a global audience on one of European football's grandest stages to leave Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, insistent that no amount of money could prise him from White Hart Lane.The Wales winger's second-half hat‑trick was yet another high point in a memorable calendar year and it has the leading clubs on the continent placing him prominently on their wish-lists. Internazionale showed interest in him last summer and after their encounter with him here they would have seen nothing to dissuade them from their pursuit.Yet Redknapp pointed out that Bale had signed a new four-year contract towards the end of last season and he said that he wanted to make him the cornerstone of a team that could play regularly in Europe's top competition."Tottenham is a club that is looking to progress, not to sell its best players," Redknapp said. "Selling him would send out the wrong signals. It would make us a selling club. We have to build a team around him and if Tottenham can progress to become a regular Champions League team, he would be a big part of that."Redknapp said the acclaim that Bale is now enjoying would not go to his head. "He just gets on with it, you couldn't meet a nicer boy. He's happy where he is. There's no way the club should or would contemplate selling him, certainly not in the near future. We should be looking to build the team, not to sell if we get a good offer for one of our best players."Bale's heroics turned an absorbing match on its head. From wanting the game to end at half-time, Redknapp found himself praying for even more injury-time at the death. "At half-time, we'd all have gone home. You could see more damage coming. When we went 2-0 down and had the goalkeeper sent off it was like your worst nightmare. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. We didn't defend well, we didn't pressure the ball and we struggled. It was a disastrous start."At half-time I told them that all we had to play for was pride. We had to make sure we weren't embarrassed by a crazy score. But in the second-half, we worked them. We tried to have a go with two wingers and one striker. I didn't sacrifice a winger for a midfielder and we worked them. We were always a threat when we got the ball out wide. We got some rewards, not in terms of points but in terms of pride."The spirit that Tottenham showed offered them hope ahead of Inter's visit to White Hart Lane in three weeks' time. "I think we had a lot of positive things in the second-half," said Bale. "We kept the ball under control and at White Hart Lane, we can do a better job and win. The result is all that matters and we are hugely disappointed. We want to put that right."Redknapp said: "At White Hart Lane, we're a good team and it will be a great atmosphere. In the end, the draw between FC Twente and Werder Bremen was a good one for us. Tonight hasn't done us too much damage."Tottenham HotspurHarry RedknappInternazionaleChampions LeagueDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Liverpool flying high with Iron Maiden at helm Liverpool flying high ahead of Napoli game with Iron Maiden at the helm. telegraph.co.uk |
Hickersberger Returns to Old Club After Quitting Bahrain MANAMA (Reuters) - Josef Hickersberger, who quit as a manager of Asian Cup qualifiers Bahrain on Tuesday, has returned to his former Emirates club Al Wahda. feeds.nytimes.com |