Dutch/Belgian bid for the 2018 WC official

[feyenoordsoccerfan]

The Dutch gouvernement has officially announced it backs the joint bid for the 2018 WC with Belgium. Yesterday the PM had a talk with the KNVB boss and the Nat team coach van Basten and in the press conference afterwards the commitment was made.

[Auriaprottu]

I thought FIFA had put a ban on joint hosting the Cup because of the problem with giving the two hosts a seed each. Am I wrong, or has the rule been changed?

[tomwilhelm]

I thought FIFA had put a ban on joint hosting the Cup because of the problem with giving the two hosts a seed each. Am I wrong, or has the rule been changed?
The "rule" has not been changed. But it's no more a rule than Blatter's "rotation" rule that conveniently went bye-bye once Africa got it's world cup.

Here's how the director of the bid, Alain Courtois, is selling it:

He said at the launch of Belgium's part of the triple bid with Luxembourg and the Netherlands that it was definitely 'not a joint bid' which are no longer favoured by FIFA.

'We are one entity, one political entity with a common economic base,' Courtois said.

'Benelux has its own parliament which has existed for 50 years,' he told Reuters.
source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=441938&

[Edgar]

You're forgetting Luxembourg. Imagine that... Luxembourg seeded :D

[Andy TAUS]

The "rule" has not been changed. But it's no more a rule than Blatter's "rotation" rule that conveniently went bye-bye once Africa got it's world cup.

Here's how the director of the bid, Alain Courtois, is selling it:

source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=441938&Sorry Tom but it was a rule the last time FIFA made a call on it. See http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/germany2006/media/newsid=37098.html#unanimous+confirmation+from+fifa+executive+world+cup+hosting

That's not to say that FIFA won't be flexible on it, if and when some-one makes it worth their while. :rolleyes:

[spoonman]

The Dutch gouvernement has officially announced it backs the joint bid for the 2018 WC with Belgium. Yesterday the PM had a talk with the KNVB boss and the Nat team coach van Basten and in the press conference afterwards the commitment was made.

That will probably mean at least a new 60.000+ stadium in Rotterdam and upsizing of AZ, Twente, Heerenveen, PSV and/or ADO den Haag stadiums to at least 40.000+

I heared the're were plans to renovate Twente stadium to a 53.000 seater.

The Belgians really have to build some stuff

[Andy TAUS]

The Dutch gouvernement has officially announced it backs the joint bid for the 2018 WC with Belgium. Yesterday the PM had a talk with the KNVB boss and the Nat team coach van Basten and in the press conference afterwards the commitment was made.So who'll be designated the "host country", with all that comes with it? Will UEFA sanction two host places out of their allocation?

[Rig1964]

The "rule" has not been changed. But it's no more a rule than Blatter's "rotation" rule that conveniently went bye-bye once Africa got it's world cup.

Here's how the director of the bid, Alain Courtois, is selling it:

source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=441938&


So is he suggesting that there will be a Benelux team, rather than Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg having individual teams?

[Edgar]

So is he suggesting that there will be a Benelux team, rather than Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg having individual teams?

No, Alain Courtois is saying FIFA doesn't need to fear the problems of having to accommodate three different countries with different laws and so on.

Anyway, having Luxembourg in the mix will only hurt their chances.

[feyenoordsoccerfan]

That will probably mean at least a new 60.000+ stadium in Rotterdam and upsizing of AZ, Twente, Heerenveen, PSV and/or ADO den Haag stadiums to at least 40.000+

I heared the're were plans to renovate Twente stadium to a 53.000 seater.

The Belgians really have to build some stuff

Feyenoord already had plans submitted to the local authorities for a new stadium in 2016 with a capacity of over 70 000 spectators, and AZ, Heerenveen and PSV also have plans of increasing capacity as their crowds are bursting the seams. Scheringa had not expected the run on tickets for the new stadium and it was already to small before it was finished. He haas developed the stadium with the opportunity to enlarge it to 40 000 spectators and now he's already dreaming of 60 000 and topple Ajax as the leading club of North Holland.
Heerenveen and PSV also can enlarge their stadium to host at least 15 000 more.
Twente just got the green light from the City council, so that's no problem either.

There was a question if UEFA would give up a slot for the second host country. Well, that's not for the UEFA to decide, because it is a FIFA tournement. They have no say in it.

[shinzui]

Maybe this could be a 36 team cup which would allow for both Belgium and Luxembourg.

The biggest problem in Korea/Japan was the need for fixed brackets in the later rounds that kept the host teams in their own country. Would this be a problem in this bid? If Holland had a quarterfinal game in Brussels would it be a problem? Its a very small geographic area.

[scaryice]

Maybe this could be a 36 team cup which would allow for both Belgium and Luxembourg.

That's what I'm afraid of, any more co-hosts and they'll find a reason to expand the cup. :mad: 32 is perfect!

The good news is that England is a much, much more likely bid (and the USA for that matter).

[Andy TAUS]

There was a question if UEFA would give up a slot for the second host country. Well, that's not for the UEFA to decide, because it is a FIFA tournement. They have no say in it.How are the three countries going to decide who gets the SINGLE host spot, that FIFA will allocate them? That's why FIFA said no-way jose to joint bids, after Japan/Korea. Read my FIFA link (post #5) on the subject above.

[mrtandy]

If there's only one host spot then the 3 teams involved can play off for it before the main draw.

[FCK4ever]

I don't think Luxemburg would be automatically qualified. It doesn't make any sense.

[tomwilhelm]

I don't think Luxemburg would be automatically qualified. It doesn't make any sense.
Was there anything in the article that said that Luxembourg... or Belgium... or the Netherlands were expecting or demanding a host spot?

Something tells me they've already thought about it...

[Gerrit]

as an emigrated Belgian (I left in 2004) I heavily oppose the idea of this WC organisation. It makes no sense at all for a country like Belgium to host the World Cup.

First of all the FIFA is not really up for another co-hosting of a tournament. This means that (if FIFA sticks to that intention) this joint bid is chanceless before it is even well launched.

But even if FIFA were to consider the joint organisation, I personally am against the idea. Apart from the tourism industry not a single Belgian would benefit from it. Basically the government would spend much money to expand stadiums that will be full for 1 month and afterwards never get even close to being sold-out. Look at what happened with Euro 2000: apart from Bruges and Anderlecht no club can fill a stadium with 30000 or 40000 places so any other stadium that was enlarged is now half empty every league game.

I would consider a new WC bid a total waste of money, money that could be spent on projects that have a long-term positive outcome for the entire nation. The Belgian government has some more serious issues to cope with I think, so maybe they should first invest in those and forget about hosting a sports event.

Being emigrated out of Belgium means I do not pay taxes there anymore so it does not directly affect me. But Belgian citizens, even fanatic football fans, should maybe think twice and realise their tax money is wasted on a tournament that lasts 1 single month, while a lot more important things could be realised with that money.

[Andy TAUS]

If there's only one host spot then the 3 teams involved can play off for it before the main draw.Sorry, but the WC Finals just doesn't work that way. There's a little matter of years of organisation, arrangements, as well as seedings, etc.

Also do you expect all three countries to put up with what the WC Finals bring (in terms of commitment, finances, etc) with no guarantee of a place at the finals? "Playoffs" are just another way of having Belgium & Luxembourg subsidize Holland's place at the WC Finals.

It just won't happen, without another serious political row in FIFA and UEFA (and the rest of the FIFA Confederations who would be at risk of losing their places) over WC Finals place allocations.

[spoonman]

I don't know why people keep on mentioning Luxemburg, they are NOT involved.

[Andy TAUS]

I don't know why people keep on mentioning Luxemburg, they are NOT involved.
"He said at the launch of Belgium's part of the triple bid with Luxembourg and the Netherlands that it was definitely 'not a joint bid' which are no longer favoured by FIFA."

See previous post #3 with link.

Exactly what does this quote mean wrt Luxembourg? :rolleyes: