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4/19/2008 5:28 AM
Spain-Portugal 2018 Bid Gathers Pace
Spain and Portugal's joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup will take another step forward when the Spanish Football Federation set meet with FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the end of April.
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galleria zoom Blatter announced in February that FIFA had received a bid from Spain and Portugal to host the 2018 competition and will now meet with the Spanish Football Federation to discuss the proposal in greater detail.
Spanish Football Federation president Ángel Villar has chartered flights for the forty-two club presidents from the Primera and Segunda Divisions to attend the meeting, along with the nineteen presidents from the autonomous federations.
The party will meet with Blatter in Zurich on the 28th April, before traveling to Nyon, where they will be received by Uefa president Michel Platini on the 29th.
The primary topic of discussion is thought to be the infrastructure that the joint bid can provide for the hosting of the tournament, an area in which the Spain-Portugal bid triumphs, as between the two countries they are able to offer eight stadiums in the five star category and six more that have a four star rating.
However, Spain and Portugal face strong opposition in their quest to host the competition, with the likes of Australia, Mexico, England, The United States, Canada, China and Russia having all made their interest clear, and the talks are currently just at the preliminary stage, as FIFA look to get a better handle on what each of the bidders can offer.