League Notes
In Manchester, Owen Gibson reports Spain and Portugal yesterday confirmed that they will submit a joint bid to co-host the '18 FIFA World Cup, "further increasing the competition that England's attempt will face from mainland Europe." Spain and Portugal will compete to host the Cup with "early favourites" England, Australia, the U.S., Russia, Qatar and a joint bid from the Netherlands and Belgium. FIFA last week sent a letter to member associations "requiring them to register their interest in hosting the tournament by February 2." The host will be chosen in December '10 (Manchester GUARDIAN, 1/20). In London, Martyn Ziegler writes Spain and Portugal will be "tough rivals for England as they can expect full support from the three South American" reps on FIFA's exec committee (London INDEPENDENT, 1/20).
HOME TO HARTFORD? In Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont noted Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez last week met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and reportedly is "trying to convince" the NHL that the city would be the "next best place for the NHL, be it through expansion or by relocation of a franchise." Perez: "The meeting was to make sure we put Hartford on [Bettman's] radar screen as a city that is bullish about bringing hockey back to Hartford" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/18).
WINTER BALL: Preliminary rosters for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) were announced yesterday, and in N.Y., Mike Vaccaro wrote baseball could become part of the Olympic movement again by "making the WBC part of the Winter Games." It could be a "joint venture between MLB and the IOC, similar to the agreement the NHL has with the IOC." While the NHL suspends its season to play in the Olympics, MLB "can't do that in the summer, and would never be asked to." But the Winter Games "take place in February," and it is "likely the appeal of an Olympics would overrule whatever hesitations most major leaguers have toward playing in a WBC-like competition" (N.Y. POST, 1/18).
GROWING UP & MOVING OUT: SI.com's Greg Lalas wrote several U.S. soccer players have "shown that MLS-developed talents can contend at the highest levels," and now the league must "compete with European clubs for the gifted players in its own backyard." As a result, the MLS SuperDraft will "become a different animal," because it "won't be about players anymore but about rights." There was a "time when many players were thankful for the opportunity that MLS presented," but "that time has passed" (SI.com, 1/19).
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