Anson claims England 2018 have the right strategy

By Andrew Warshaw in Johannesburg

December 1 – England’s 2018 World Cup bid team today launched a passionate defence of their campaign here as the public relations war among bidding nations intensified.

Two days before David Beckham’s morale-boosting appearance in Cape Town on the eve of the World Cup draw, bid chief executive Andy Anson (pictured) re-iterated that England were well on course with their so-called “road map” despite constant criticism that others are ahead of the game in terms of momentum.

Anson was addressing the media at the Soccerex conference where England’s presence is relatively low key compared to the promotional activities of Russia and Qatar who have both taken high-profile strategically central stands in the heart of the exhibition area.

Praising the 15 English cities who had applied to stage games in 2018 - the final selection takes place on December 16 - Anson said: “The enthusiasm shown by the host cities is testament to the passion for football.

“That is one of the key elements of what we want to get across.

“It is second to none, staggering and we have to build on it.”

Despite exuding plenty of rhetoric about England’s infrastructure, stadiums, transport and fans, Anson revealed little that was new, almost as if he had been forced into holding court just to keep England’s public relations show on the road.

He did, however, insist that holding the World Cup in England would be commercially unbeatable and revealed that Beckham and other bid team officials would be holding a series of private meetings with individual members of FIFA’s 24-strong Executive Committee in Cape Town between now and Friday’s draw.

England bid board member Paul Elliott has already met with Amos Adamu, the Nigerian representative on the FIFA Executive Committee.

Africa’s three votes are considered critical to England’s success when the final decision is made in December next year and Anson said the special relationship with the African continent would be stepped up as a result.

“Part of our plans are to build on that in a very significant and sustainable way,” said Anson.

“Getting the right people in the right place at the right time is a key part of our strategy.

“The core of this campaign is individual meetings with individual ExCo members and other influential people.

“We believe we have the right strategy.”

Asked for the umpteenth time how badly the bid had been damaged by various political setbacks over the past few weeks, not least the resignation from the bid board of Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards, Anson replied: “Some of the things that have happened have not been particularly helpful.

“But Dave is still campaigning for us. He has strong networking contacts and nothing has changed in that regard.”

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