November 02, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 20, 1428

LONDON, Nov 1: Buoyed by a lucrative Premier League, modern stadiums and a vastly improved record on crowd behaviour, England confirmed its bid to host the 2018 World Cup on Wednesday.

Two days after FIFA scrapped its policy of rotating the tournament among its confederations, the Football Association wants England to stage it for a second time. England won the 1966 title at home.

“I’m delighted to announce our intention to bid to host the World Cup in 2018,” FA chairman Geoff Thompson said. “This follows FIFA’s announcement on Monday that the previous rotation policy will be discontinued, and the positive comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.”

If FIFA had maintained its rotation policy, Europe most likely would have had to wait many years to hold the event again because Germany staged the last World Cup in 2006.

Blatter said before FIFA’s ruling in Zurich that he would welcome a bid from England, which will probably face opposition from China, Australia, Mexico, the US, Russia, Spain and a joint bid from the Netherlands and Belgium.

England is already off to a fast start with the British government assisting the bid.

“The tremendous support from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his government has also been a key consideration in today’s decision,” Thompson said.—AP