London, October 07: Jack Warner, president of the CONCACAF federation and a member of the FIFA executive committee, has warned England in no uncertain terms that it is running a real risk of falling behind its main competitors in the race to host the 2018 World Cup. “I think England are creeping along. It’s better than standing still but I would have thought they would be galloping by now,” Warner was quoted by The Telegraph newspaper as saying.
Warner added that he would pass on the message that major European rival Spain would win if the World Cup vote if it were held at this stage to bid chairman Lord Triesman and his Premier League counterpart Sir Dave Richards when they meet later Wednesday.
“I have been a FIFA executive committee member for 27 years, I have seen many other bids, and while England has all the attributes to be a worthy host country I am not convinced they are making the most of those attributes,” said Warner during his visit to London to speak at the Leaders in Football on Tuesday.
“Spain is doing quite well and some people have even expressed the belief to me that if the vote were taken now they would win. There is of course a long time to go, and many things can change.”
Fellow European rival Russia launches its bid Friday and The Telegraph reported that England’s bid committee members remain confident that they will be able to increase the momentum of the campaign.
Warner revealed that he has not yet made up his mind which bid the CONCACAF region (North- and central America, the Caribbean) will support.
“I want to disabuse anybody of the view that CONCACAF is in the FA’s corner,” he said.
“I have a good working relationship and I have some empathy with them but we need to sit back and see what all the bids come up with. We are looking for those who find new ways to be innovative for football.”
Candidate countries have had to apply for either or both of the 2018 or 2022 tournaments and FIFA’s executive committee will make their decision on the two editions in December 2010.
Last month, Mexico withdrew its bid, leaving solo bids from Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, and the United States with joint bids coming from Belgium and the Netherlands and Portugal and Spain.
South Africa is hosting the 2010 World Cup and Brazil the 2014 one.
–Agencies