Gilberto Madail, left, and Angel Maria Villar, presidents of the Portuguese and Spanish soccer federations, pose following a news conference to unveil the two countries joint bid to host the 2018 and 2022 soccer World Cups, Thursday, Oct. 29 2009, at the federation headquarters in Lisbon.
Portuguese politicians have reacted angrily to the news their country will play second fiddle to Spain in a joint Iberian bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Last week Portuguese Football Association (FPF) president Gilberto Madail revealed his country would be a junior partner in the bid to co-host the 2018 finals with Spain.
Just three stadiums – two in Lisbon, one in Oporto – would be contributed by Portugal, which emphasized the cost-effectiveness of its contribution following major investment made prior to the UEFA 2004 European Championships
But Portugal’s diminished role has met consternation within the country, particularly the decision to omit the cities of Faro and Braga.
“We are the main tourist port in the country and it seems unthinkable to delete the Algarve,” Macario Correia, Mayor of Faro, told Lisbon daily newspaper Diario de Noticias.
He called on the FPF to enlarge the Algarve Stadium by 12,000 seats and include it in the bid. “You can make this investment and allow the Algarve an infrastructure worthy of great events,” he was quoted as saying.
The social democrat politician José Luís Arnault, who as a government minister earlier in the decade was responsible for the organization of Euro 2004, warned in an interview with state broadcaster RTP that Portugal risked appearing a “satellite” of Spain.
“In 2004, Japan appeared as a satellite country against Korea,” he said. “We have to guard against this, I am confident that our sports officials know take [notice of] that situation. This application must be an application where Portugal appear side by side with Spain.”
Arnault hinted that the vast costs incurred in preparing for the European Championships may have made the FPF and current government reticent to commit more funds at a time of financial recession.
But he said that the time was now right to take advantage of existing investments. “Euro 2004 was a commitment that we took to the end with great success, but costs were too large for the size of our economy,” he said. “It’s done, now we need to monetize it.”
Arnault’s views were echoed by Portuguese deputy, Miranda Calha. “Euro 2004 was the spark that the country needed to renew infrastructure,” he said. “Today we have stadiums and sports’ facilities and we can take advantage of them, co-organizing a World Cup. We have to maximize this investment.”
The joint Portugal/Spain bid is up against competition from Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands-Belgium, Russia, U.S for the right to stage the 2018 or 2022 World Cups. Qatar and South Korea are the only bidding to host the 2022 edition.
Bid books must be submitted to FIFA by May 14. FIFA’s Executive Committee will study the bids, conduct site visits and name the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments on December 2, 2010.
source, image via daylife
