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Blatter Says U.S. Has Good
Chance To Host '18 World Cup |
FIFA President Sepp Blatter yesterday said that the U.S. “has a good chance of hosting the 2018 World Cup if soccer’s governing body adheres to its principle of rotating” the event from continent to continent, according to Liz Clarke of the WASHINGTON POST. Blatter said if the organization were to "go again in a rotation, after South America, there should be North America coming in. That would be the normal way to go.” FIFA is expected to award hosting rights to the ’18 and ’22 World Cups in December ’10. Blatter met with President Obama at the White House yesterday and “presented a formal invitation to the president and his family to attend” the '10 World Cup in South Africa. Blatter and Obama also “discussed ways of strengthening soccer in the United States.” Blatter called it a “great encounter,” and USSF President Sunil Gulati, who accompanied Blatter, said that it was a “positive meeting.” Blatter said that he “understood that the United States’ crowded sports landscape represented a challenge for extending soccer’s foothold.” He “praised the strides the women’s game has made, noting: ‘You have the best women footballers here in this country.’” Blatter noted the '94 World Cup in the U.S. did not have "the impact we expected." However, he added, "It was the first World Cup organization, and so far the only one, where all tickets were sold, and all seats were occupied. So this is a good legacy of the organizational skill of the United States” (
WASHINGTON POST, 7/28).
