2014 FIFA World Cup latest news
30th October 2007
2014 World Cup host announced by FIFA
As expected, FIFA president Sepp Blatter today announced that the hosts of the 2014 World Cup will be Brazil.....more
31st July 2007
Brazilian Football Association submits official 2014 World Cup bid
A Brazilian delegation today officially submitted a 900 page dossier to FIFA showcasing its bid for the 2014 World Cup.....more
18th July 2007
World Cup 2014 host to be named on October 30th 2007
Brazil are expected to be confirmed hosts of the 2014 World Cup on October 30th following a meeting of the FIFA executive. Although Brazil are the only candidates to host the tournament they will still have to prove they can pull it off.....more
12th April 2007
Colombia withdraw bid for 2014 World Cup
A Brazilian bid for the 2014 World Cup will almost certainly be unopposed after the news that Colombia have withdrawn from the race.....more
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On March 7th 2003, FIFA announced that the 2014 FIFA World Cup will take place in South America in accordance with FIFA’s rotational policy allowing the competition to be passed around from confederation to confederation. The 2014 tournament will be the first time the World Cup has been held in South America since Argentina won the competition as hosts in 1978.
The official bidding process for the 2014 World Cup began in December 2006 with Brazil the clear favourite to win the candidacy. Colombia also bid for the tournament but it was always unlikely that Brazil would be overlooked in favour of a country that had already had to give up the hosting of the 1986 World Cup because of economic, political and infrastructure problems – factors that haven’t improved in the interim. Nevertheless, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced to the press in March 2007 that, "There are two candidates [to host the 2014 World Cup], Brazil and Colombia". Colombia withdrew their bid a month later.
The members of the South American Football Association, CONMEBOL, have given almost unanimous support to a Brazilian bid and barring a huge surprise all eyes will be on Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.
The only potential opponent to a Brazilian bid appears to be the country itself – and more specifically the infrastructure and stadia. World Cup rules insist that a minimum of eight stadia are required to host the games with all seater capacities of at least 40,000. Furthermore, the semi-finals, final and opening match must be staged in stadia with an all seater capacity of at least 60,000. In September 2006 Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, “We don’t have any stadium which is in a condition to host World Cup games. We’re going to have to build at least 12 new stadiums in this country”.
Twelve new football grounds in 7 years in a third world country with poor infrastructure? And people think the South Africa competition in 2010 has problems.
At this early stage there is no guarantee that Brazil will be able to host the 2014 World Cup. If their attempt to host the competition fails the tournament could switch to the USA. This would not totally mess up the FIFA rotation policy as the two American continents could be treated as one. This would also have implications for the 2018 tournament and could increase the likelihood of a World Cup return to Europe where England are keen to host the tournament.
The announcement of the host for the 2014 World Cup is scheduled for October 30th 2007.