FIFA inspectors Manchester world Cup visit

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FIFA inspectors Manchester world Cup visit FIFA inspectors who are deciding the host of the World Cup in 2018 will be leaving Manchester with a good impression, according to Sir Richard Leese, leader of the city’s council. Leese hosted officials from FIFA at a town hall dinner following a tour of Old Trafford and Eastlands.

Over 300 VIPs and several former football heroes participated in the reception that was held in honour of the FIFA inspectors. Norman Hunter, Kenny Dalglish, and Peter Reid were all in attendance.

The delegation for Manchester City, which included executive chairman Garry Cook, as well as Roberto Mancini, the team boss, was also joined by players from the Timisoara team of Romania.

The delegation’s visit at Manchester was their last stop on their mission to determine whether or not England will be a good fit for the 2018 World Cup. Although they will not be deciding until December, Leese was very confident that Manchester had done the country good during the delegation’s tour. Sir Richard said that he is “absolutely certain” that the team will be impressed with the city.

The delegates’ feedback was reportedly quite positive, but the inspectors were silent when asked about England’s chances of winning the bid. England is up against five other countries for the 2018 cup.

During the tour, the inspection team was given a tour of Old Trafford by Sir Bobby Charlton as well as Sir Alex Ferguson, and Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand also made an appearance. They were also shown around Eastlands by the city chief, and children were also playing a well-timed football game outside the town hall.

Back to Bid Week launched for world up honour

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Back to Bid Week launched for world up honour England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup has been stepped up a gear this week as the ‘Back to Bid Week’ was launched with the support of host David Beckham the former captain of England.

Beckham is serving as vice president of the bid and is asking the whole country to support England’s bid by attending a series of campaigns and events that are scheduled over the course of next week.

The former England captain stated that the support from the public, the team has seen has been great but now that it is time for the Bid Week it is time for the nation to once again pull together and work as a team to secure the World Cup.

Beckham continued to say that he has little doubt that fans from all over the country will pull together in an effort to display to the FIFA Inspection Team that they can offer the best festival and passion that anyone has ever seen at the World Cup.

Over the course of the next seven days football grounds and cities throughout England will be covered in banners and flags that say ‘Back the Bid’ and many events from general football  games to children’s coaching sessions will be held.

In order to show that England is a suitable host for the next World Cup events will occur in all 12 of the candidate cities and many sponsors, celebrities, business, and schools are expected to offer their support in an attempt to show England in its best light.

Putin backs Russia for World Cup hosts

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Putin backs Russia for World Cup hosts On Tuesday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered his backing to Russia’s bid for the World Cup during a meeting with FIFA inspectors in which they took a look at how viable the option is.

Putin added that Russian authorities would put a visa-free regime in place for those who are guests of the World Cup and those who are planning on participating.  Russia is hoping to win the bid for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

Also at the meeting were the head of the RFU (Russian Football Union), Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, and sports minister Vitaly Mutko.  The meeting was attended by six members of the FIFA board and led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls the Chilean Football Federation President.

Putin declared that Russia is prepared to do whatever is required in order to win the World Cup bid if FIFA decided that the country could be trusted to host the largest football event in the world.  He stated that if FIFA offers the country the World Cup then Russia will offer everything that they can which would include the action visa-free regime.

The Prime Minister added that he is sure that everyone who attends the event along with the participants will enjoy the World Cup in Russia and that plans to reconstruct across the country will still occur even if they lose the bid for the 2018 bid.

Russia has already been selected as the 2014 location for the Winter Olympics which was the work of Putin.

Leicester City becomes a Thai football club

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Leicester City becomes a Thai football club The Leicester City football club has been purchased by a consortium led by Aiyawatt Raksriaksorn, a Thai businessman. Chairman of the club, Milan Mandaric will still retain his position.

The three year sponsorship deal was made official last week and Mandaric is hopeful that the deal will help the Championship Club once again return to its previous glory in the Premier League.

Mandaric stated that the deal will bring new energy and strength to the club and is a great opportunity both for the club and its supporters.  According to Mandaric, the deal represents ambition, strength, and partnership all of which will help bring the club back to its former standing within the Primer League.

Liverpool may become Chinese football club

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Liverpool may become Chinese football club Chinese investor Kenny Huang has been rumoured to have shown interest in buying Premier League team Liverpool. Though Huang has yet to make an official offer, it has been speculated that any offer he does make will be backed by the Chinese government.

Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, doesn’t foresee any problems with Huang buying the club even if he does receive his funding from the Chinese government. Scudamore admits he will investigate the situation further if the rumours are confirmed but also states that it would not be much different to Manchester City receiving funds from Abu Dhabi.

Current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillet along with Chairman Martin Broughton are reportedly in talks with six other bidders but a formal decision of the new owner is to be made next week.