Boston Advances in World Cup Bid

Hub One of 27 Cities Left in Final Stage

August 20, 2009

Boston is one of the 27 American cities that has advanced to the last stage of the bidding process to serve as a host venue for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, the USA Bid Committee announced Thursday.

The city will partner with the New England Revolution and Gillette Stadium to continue working with the USA Bid Committee to promote the U.S. as a host country. Revolution owner Robert Kraft is a member of the committee.

Gillette Stadium is a potential site for a future World Cup.

“The USA Bid Committee is pleased to have received comprehensive responses from city officials and local organizing committees across the United States,” said Sunil Gulati, the Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of U.S. Soccer. “The overwhelming interest and creativity shown by the candidate cities made our extensive review process that much more difficult in narrowing down the list.”

The U.S. is one of seven nations to formally declare their desire to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia are the others.

Fifty-eight stadiums in 52 cities initially expressed interest in hosting the event in the U.S. That list was whittled down to 45 and 38 in mid-June and most recently moved to the current count of 32 stadiums in 27 cities. The U.S. needs to submit its formal application to FIFA in May 2010.

The 27 remaining candidate cities offer a wide variety of markets that range in size from New York City to Jacksonville, Fla., as well as vast coast-to-coast geographic strength. .

In conjunction with the list of 27 cities announced by the USA Bid Committee, a short list of 32 stadiums still under consideration was also announced. The venues average almost 74,000 in capacity. All 32 stadiums currently exist or are under construction with eight featuring capacities between 80,000 and 108,000 spectators.

“We will be working closely with officials from all 27 cities, stadiums and host committees over the next few months in our process of identifying the final list of cities that will be included in our bid book to FIFA in May 2010,” said David Downs, the Executive Director of the USA Bid Committee. “With the passion for the game being shown by our fans and the existing infrastructure in place in the U.S., we are confident we have assembled a list of candidate cities that will meet and exceed FIFA’s requirements for hosting World Cup matches.”

FIFA’s criterion requires a candidate host nation to provide a minimum of 12 stadiums and a maximum of 18 capable of seating 40,000 or more spectators. Stadiums with a minimum capacity of 80,000 are required by FIFA for consideration to play host to the Opening Match and Final Match. The U.S. used stadiums in nine cities when it hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

The United States, Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia have formally declared their desire to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain have each submitted joint bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, while Qatar and South Korea have applied as candidates to play host only to the tournament in 2022.

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