Wimbledon, rugby cast shadow over World Cup bids

England and Australia’s bids to host football’s World Cup in 2018 and 2022 may suffer from clashes with local sports events, including tennis at Wimbledon and Australian rugby league, FIFA indicated.

“It is a FIFA requirement that no other major sporting event is hosted in a Host City during the period and the fact that the Wimbledon tennis championships take place in London during late June/early July could have an impact on the public attention given to the FIFA World Cup,” the evaluation report said.

FIFA’s evaluation of Australia signalled a clash with the National Rugby League season and Australian rules football from March to September, affecting both public attention and available ressources, as well as a potential third impact.

“The Queen’s Birthday is celebrated on the second Monday of June and is marked by a public holiday in the majority of states (except Western Australia) which could have some impact in the host cities (except Perth) during the tournament,” the report remarked.

The report on England did not mention Queen Elizabeth II’s official birthday, which does not correspond to the actual date of April 21 and is traditionally set for a Saturday in June in Britain.

Future dates for football’s month-long showpiece event have not been set but they have typically straddled June into July when it has been hosted by European countries.

Wimbledon, the world’s oldest tennis tournament, has been staged since 1877 over a two-week period in late June and early July.

AFP understands the England 2018 bid team has discussed the issue of Wimbledon being staged at the same time as the World Cup but do not consider it as being a serious threat to their hopes of staging the tournament.

High-profile sporting events in host nations have taken place alongside World Cups in the past.

During this year’s tournament in South Africa, the Springboks played three rugby internationals while the soccer extravaganza was taking place.

The report was published by world football’s governing body two weeks before British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William are expected to join David Beckham in a high-profile final pitch by England against other European bidders in Zurich.

FIFA’s technical evaluation team found that England’s stadiums exceeded minimum requirements and highlighted the country’s experience with hosting international sports events as well as transport links.

However, they raised technical questions about the readiness of training sites and contractual issues over accommodation.

Australian generally benefitted from a strong evaluation including on its stadiums.

Questions were raised over the distance between Australian venues and the reliance on air transport, as well as the risk of a loss in TV income from Europe and the Americas because of the time difference.

England, Russia and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium are in the running to host the 2018 World Cup.

Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea are bidding for the 2022 event.

The hosts of both tournaments will be chosen simultaneously by FIFA’s executive committee in Zurich on December 2.