England to withdraw bid if US does same

LONDON (AP):

England will withdraw from the race to host the 2022 World Cup and concentrate on its 2018 bid if - as the English expect - the United States (US) formally ends its interest in the earlier tournament.

The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), which votes on the hosts of both events in December, has not officially declared that 2018 should go to Europe, leaving the rest of the field to contest 2022 - despite president Joseph Sepp Blatter backing such a scenario.

England and other European bidders Russia, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands are still vying for both events as a formality.

The US is the only non-European country still contesting both editions, after Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea focused their resources on 2022.

Withdrawing from bidding

The Americans have said they will withdraw from 2018 bidding only if asked to by FIFA or Union of European Football Association president Michel Platini.

David Dein, the international president of England's bid, said yesterday he expects that announcement to be imminent.

"We believe, Michel Platini believes, that 2018 should be coming to Europe and we believe that is our strongest case," Dein told a briefing for international journalists yesterday. "We are sure it won't be long before America will withdraw from 2018 leaving themselves a run on 2022.

"Consequently, we will almost certainly - it hasn't come about yet - withdraw from 2022, leaving us with a European battle."

Dein, the former vice chairman of Arsenal, has been leading England's global courting of the 24 FIFA executive committee voters.