England's bid for the 2018 World Cup will be given a boost tomorrow when it is judged as ‘low risk’ in FIFA's evaluation reports of the bidding countries.
The reports are to be published tomorrow and England will be on a par with current favourites Spain/Portugal, although FIFA's inspectors have raised issues with all of the four bids for 2018.
The concerns about England surround training camps, the number of contracted hotel rooms and training camp hotels.
Spain/Portugal are also a ‘low legal risk’ but are told they need a proper safety and security strategy.
The concerns about Russia's bid, also a ‘low legal risk’, are regarding their transport plan, particularly in relation to air traffic, and is a much more costly and difficult issue in such a vast country.
Holland/Belgium are judged a ‘medium legal risk’ as the necessary government guarantees have not been provided.
Although the FIFA inspectors' report are broadly positive about all the bids, England look to have received marginally better marks than their main rivals - some much-needed good news
after a month of media-related setbacks.
On England, the report states: ‘The bidder has not contracted the required number of venue-specific training sites or venue-specific team hotels,' says the report.
‘The fact that not many of the rooms have been contracted in full compliance with FIFA's template hotel agreement requires further analysis and potentially renegotiation. FIFA could be exposed to excessive pricing.’
On Russia, the report says: ‘The country's vastness and its remoteness from other countries, coupled with the fact that the high speed rail network is limited... would put pressure on the air
traffic infrastructure potentially causing transfer challenges.
‘Any delay in the completion of transport projects could impact on FIFA's tournament operations and the proposed installation of temporary facilities could impose a high cost burden.’
Spain/Portugal look to have the fewest criticisms, but the security issue is a serious one. The report states: ‘A clear operational concept has not been specified for safety and security.’
Like Holland/Belgium, the inspectors state co-hosting represents a challenge.
The evaluation reports for the 2022 World Cup bidders will also be published tomorrow, and the inspectors have warned that Qatar's searing summer heat could be a ‘potential health risk for players, officials, the FIFA family and spectators’.
Qatar have emerged as strong contenders for the tournament despite having to face issues surrounding the heat, which averages more than 40 degrees Celsius in June and July and last summer topped 50 degrees, and the small size of the country and population.
A senior FIFA figure has also questioned Qatar's claim that air conditioning the stadiums can lower the temperatures into the low 30s.
The United States' Chuck Blazer, a long-standing member of the FIFA executive committee who will vote on the 2018 and 2022 hosts on December 2, does not believe this is enough.
Blazer told the Wall Street Journal: ‘You can air condition a stadium, but I don't see how you can air-condition an entire country.’
The USA are bidding against Qatar along with Australia and outsiders South Korea and Japan. As well as the heat, the size of the country is an issue - it is half the size of Wales with a population of less than 1million, half of whom live in the country's only city of note, Doha.
A special meeting of the FIFA executive committee has been called on Friday in Zurich with only two items on the agenda: to discuss the evaluation reports and the outcome of the FIFA ethics committee hearing.
Some FIFA insiders believe there may be a move to bar Qatar from the bid process on technical grounds if the evaluation report raises too many high-risk problems.
Yesterday, the head of Qatar's bid insisted they were ‘now credible contenders’.
Bid chief executive Hassan Al Thawadi told the Aspire4Sport conference in Doha: ‘The weather posed many concerns but we acknowledged the issue and we continue to overcome this.
‘The benefits of our bid have won over many sceptics.’
FIFA's ethics committee will announce their findings on Thursday into separate investigations into corruption and collusion claims.
Two FIFA executive committee members, Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, have been alleged by the Sunday Times to have asked for cash for projects in exchange for votes.
Other low-ranking FIFA officials also face sanctions, and all deny any wrongdoing.
The collusion allegation is that Qatar and Spain/Portugal have done a deal for votes in contravention of FIFA rules.
