The United States Soccer Federation has joined 11 other nations to officially submit a bid to play host to either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced on Monday.
The United States joins CONCACAF rival Mexico, England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium from Europe, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Qatar from Asia and Egypt from Africa to submit bids at the FIFA deadline.
"We've got some very serious competitors," Gulati said in a conference call Monday afternoon. "Our neighbor Mexico has hosted two spectacular World Cups, England is home to the No. 1 league in the world in the eyes of many, Spain has put on terrific events and has a great national team...There's a lot of very strong competitors."
The entire bid process will span 16 months, with FIFA setting May 2010 as the deadline for countries to submit their final paperwork. FIFA's 24-man Executive Committee will then review each bid and name the two hosts for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups in December 2010.
"The bidding has become much more competitive since we last did this in 1987 and 1988. The number of countries that have applied should be a pretty strong indication of that," Gulati said. "FIFA's requirements have become much more rigorous...We think we can meet all those standards."
World Cup USA 1994 was the most successful event in FIFA history, shattering attendance records -- both in terms of average attendance and overall attendance.
The success led to the birth of Major League Soccer two years later and Women's Professional Soccer, which will begin its inaugural season in the spring.
"There were a lot of doubters about the World Cup and whether we could fill stadiums -- we did that," said Gulati, who will serve as chair of the USA Bid Committee. "There were a lot of doubters that we start a professional league -- we did that. There were a lot of doubters whether we would be around after a couple of years of a professional league - we did that and have more people wanting to get in now than we ever had before."
Gulati said one of the strengths of the U.S. bid is that there isn't the same infrastructure concerns that other nations have, which is why he'd prefer to host the 2018 World Cup.
"Sooner is always better in the case of a country like the United States because we're not talking about building stadiums, highways, hotels, airports or any of those sorts of things," he said. "From that perspective we don't need more time to build any infrastructure."
Gulati said it is too early in the process to mention any potential cities or stadiums to host games, but he did point out current construction projects in Dallas and New Jersey. While the building of soccer-specific MLS stadiums has been a big part of the growth of soccer in the United States, it is highly unlikely that any of those stadiums would host because the minimum seating requirement would be 40,000 and 80,000 for the opening game and final.
Gulati said there are about 40 venues throughout the country, including a few that are in the process of being built, that could potentially host games. Eventually, he said, the list of 25-30 cities will be reduced to between nine and 14.
"We have an abundance of choices in this country," Gulati said. "We're going to have stadiums in this country that are between 80,000 and 90,000 seats that have never hosted a game."
David Downs, previously the president of Univision Sports, will serve as the executive director of the USA Bid Committee. Downs also worked at ABC Television Network for 21 years, where he was instrumental in broadcasting World Cup games without commercial interruption.
"I feel very honored to be part of the effort to bring the World Cup back to American shores and I look forward with great enthusiasm to the challenges ahead in this bid process," Downs said. "I know that the United States has all the qualities necessary to once again host a first-class World Cup tournament."
Also named to the bid committee are U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Phil Murphy, the former National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Other members of the USA Bid Committee will be announced in the near future.
"We are what we are today because of the World Cup in 1994. Without it, I don't think Major League Soccer exists," Garber said. "Should we get the World Cup in '18 or '22, I think it would have a similarly impactful benefit to the league, in terms of growing the passion people in this country have for the sport."
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