Ireland Formally Submits 2023 World Cup Bid To World Rugby

Former Ireland rugby int'l Brian O'Driscoll and Ireland national team head coach Joe Schmidt "led an open-top bus, musicians and flag-bearers from the Aviva Stadium to World Rugby's HQ on Pembroke Street as Ireland submitted its formal bid to host the 2023 World Cup," according to RTÉ. Bid ambassador O'Driscoll handed in the 990-page document, which sets out the country's plans to run what Irish Rugby Football Union CEO Philip Browne believes would be "a tournament like no other." Bid Oversight Board Chair Dick Spring said, "This bid represents the hopes and aspirations of the entire Island and is focused very firmly on the future, as symbolized by the children who were front and center of the bid submission today." Ireland is "facing off" with France and South Africa for the right to host the tournament in six years' time. Legislation will "have to be rushed through in order to guarantee that the tournament can take place" in Ireland. The Irish government will also have to underwrite the tournament, "which could see the Exchequer saddled with the bill should there be any losses" (RTÉ, 6/1). RTÉ also reported Browne insisted that the Irish public will not "be left saddled with a huge bill" if the 2023 Rugby World Cup is awarded to the country. When asked to explain the situation, he replied, "In April we got the formal guarantees that are required by World Rugby from World Rugby themselves. ... There are two elements to the guarantee. The first is the tournament fee of £120M sterling ($155M) that has to be paid to World Rugby for the privilege of hosting the event. Secondly, the underwriting of the tournament costs and in affect what that means, if you didn’t sell any tickets at all, the government might have to step in and pay for the cost of the tournament. The reality is, in no previous tournament has there ever been a situation where there hasn’t been an operating profit. It will cost Ireland the £120M sterling tournament fee." He said that the Irish tournament bid has the "backing of government on both sides of the border and the public." He also said that there are "enough hotel beds for travelling fans despite concerns in this area" (RTÉ, 6/1).