FIFA DELEGATION VISIT NEWCASTLEGATESHEAD
WEDNESDAY 25 AUGUST 2010 marks a special day in NewcastleGateshead’s sporting calendar as members of FIFA, the international governing body of football, visit the twin cities as part of their four day visit to England to assess the country’s bid to host World Cup football in 2018.
NewcastleGateshead, along with Sunderland, Manchester and London, have been selected for inspection by FIFA and the delegation will be making a special visit to St James’ Park as part of their wider visit to England.
The six strong FIFA delegation, along with members of the England 2018 bid team, will meet Councillor David Faulkner, Leader Elect of Newcastle City Council and Chair of the NewcastleGateshead World Cup Champions Group; Derek Llambias, managing director of Newcastle United Football Club; Peter Beardsley, former England international and members of the NewcastleGateshead bid team at St James’ Park for a tour of the stadium and the opportunity to ask some questions relating to the NewcastleGateshead and England bids.
Councillor David Faulkner, Leader Elect of Newcastle City Council and Chair of the NewcastleGateshead World Cup Champions Group said: “NewcastleGateshead is one of only four cities, including Sunderland, to have been selected for inspection by FIFA during their visit to England. We are enormously proud to have the opportunity to demonstrate what a great footballing region we are and show the Inspection Team that football really is at the heart of the city.
“The delegation will be arriving by helicopter and visiting St James’ Park where the NewcastleGateshead World Cup bid team will present its proposal for hosting the largest footballing tournament in the world. St James’ Park is an iconic stadium and an important part of England’s bid, this historic visit brings us one step closer to seeing World Cup football played in NewcastleGateshead.”
Derek Llambias, managing director of Newcastle United Football Club said: “St James’ Park is one of England’s great football stadia and it’s an honour to welcome the FIFA members during their visit. Newcastle United is known around the world for having some for the most passionate football supporters and that’s something we hope to demonstrate to FIFA during their tour of the stadium. We’re ready to show them that we are ready to host World Cup football tomorrow.”
Following FIFA’s visit to NewcastleGateshead, the delegation will then move to Manchester which will include a visit to Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium. FIFA will make an official announcement as to who will host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 on 2 December 2010.
FIFA’s visit forms part of national, ‘Back the Bid’ week which runs from Saturday 21 – Saturday 28 August. NewcastleGateshead is backing the campaign with a number of events including, Wear Your Shirt To Work Day, which encourages workers throughout the region to wear their football short to work on Tuesday 24 August.
There are a variety of ways supporters can ‘Back the Bid’ and bring World Cup football to England and NewcastleGateshead including, texting ‘ENGLAND’ to 62018, logging onto the official website www.england2018bid.com, joining the official Facebook site www.facebook.com/england2018 or by following the bid on Twitter www.twitter.com/england2018bid.
-ENDS-
For further information, interview requests, images etc, please contact David Brookbanks,
Media & PR Manager for NewcastleGateshead Initiative on 0191 440 5740 / 07946 581 417 or email david.brookbanks@ngi.org.uk