As football fever grips England – thanks to the national team's performances at this year's FIFA World Cup – there is growing evidence that The Football Association (FA) is planning to launch a bid to host the tournament in 2030.
The FA is understood to have been satisfied with the "increased transparency" of the new voting system, which was used last month to
decide the host of the 2026 World Cup. A joint bid by the US, Canada and Mexico was declared winner against a rival bid from Morocco at a FIFA meeting on 13 June. Following the vote, a large screen in the room showed clearly how every member federation had voted.
It was in stark contrast to the secret ballot held in 2010, which saw Russia pull off a surprise win against England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup.
Among those to have been impressed by the more transparent voting system is David Gill – former Manchester United chief executive and current FIFA vice-president.
Gill said he was particularly pleased to see the joint US/Mexico/Canada bid win "by merit". The joint bid was deemed vastly superior on technical grounds to that of Morocco, receiving four out of five in a FIFA bid evaluation report, compared with Morocco’s 2.7 out of five.
“What the new system does is gives great confidence that the procedures in place now are appropriate and relevant," Gill said. “If you’ve got a product then it’s up to the company selling that product to actually demonstrate what’s required, review that and then come up with the answer.
“Both bids were very good but if you are four out of five versus 2.7 out of five – what is best for football – the best bid has won.”
Another hint that the FA is preparing a bid for the 2030 tournament is a recent reshuffle at the top of the FA, which has seen director of communications Rob Sullivan being given the responsibility to lead a strengthened international department.
Sullivan is set to oversee the seven games which the FA will host during the Euro 2020 competition – as well as potentially preparing the ground for a possible World Cup bid.
The FA is also rumoured to be conducting a feasibility study into the "pros and cons" of hosting the 2030 tournament sometime over the next year.
There is currently one confirmed bidder for the 2030 World Cup – a joint campaign by South American countries Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
