World Cup 2014 should return to Asia: Velapan
SINGAPORE: The World Cup soccer tournament in 2014 should return to Asia, preferrably in China, Asian football supremo Peter Velapan said on Wednesday.
In an interview with Singapore’s NewsRadio 93.8, Velapan said by that time China would have the facilities to host the event as successfully as the recent World Cup held jointly in Japan and South Korea.
China will host the Olympic Games in 2008.
“From now until after the Olympics, China will be focused on the development of sports and facilities. Thereafter, they will have some 30 stadiums,” said Velapan, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation. “I think it’s time for the World Cup to come back to Asia because we have done so much for the World Cup, so much for football and so much for FIFA,” he added.
Two Australian state governments – New South Wales and Victoria – on Sunday launched their joint bid to host the Cup in 2014. Velapan said: “I think if you compare Australia and China, naturally the bet would be China and they would do as much as Korea and Japan (in hosting the Cup).”
Senior officials of Australia’s soccer authority on Monday ridiculed the announcement of the bids by the two state governments.
The national president of Soccer Australia, Nick Greiner, said Australia was ill-prepared to bid to host the 2014 World Cup and should wait for the 2018 event, using the extra time to try to sort out its problems.
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