Becks eyes late support for England
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David Beckham is working night and day for England in its quest to host the 2018 World Cup, and said yesterday he can see the support swinging in his country's direction.
Beckham and Prince William have met with several of the 22 men who will vote on the hosting rights of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups today, including Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar and Chuck Blazer of the United States.
"It's hard to tell whether you've definitely got a vote," Beckham said. "You get a good feeling from some of the members that we've met over the last couple of days.
"We're working hard into the night and early mornings and fingers crossed."
Beckham and Prince William are due to speak at the presentation to the executive committee today before England goes up against Russia, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands in the vote.
England must also hope that its chances of securing the votes from FIFA vice president Jack Warner and his two CONCACAF colleagues haven't been damaged by the BBC probe. Warner was accused of being involved in a ticket scam for the 2010 World Cup. The BBC said the deal fell through when resellers would not pay Warner's asking price.
Late yesterday, Australia called on FIFA to recognize it as "the world's greatest playground," and asked for right to stage the 2022 World Cup. Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman and model Elle McPherson helped promote their country's bid in a 30-minute showcase to FIFA's 22 executive committee voters. The bid opened a series of final presentations being made yesterday by the five 2022 candidates, which include South Korea, Qatar, the United States and Japan.
Australia aimed to assure FIFA it could have a profitable and secure tournament in the only continent never to host football's biggest event.
On a day of developments, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pulled out of Russia's 2018 World Cup bid.
Putin's withdrawal and allegation that the bidding process had turned into an "unfair competition" following scandals targeting FIFA dented its stature as a favorite to host the event.
Putin's unexpected no-show was exactly the last-minute drama that could overturn months of preparations and planning that go into getting the right to host the globe's biggest single-sport event.
The Spain-Portugal bid again kept its lobbying behind closed doors, and heard yesterday it will not be able to count on Cristiano Ronaldo in its buildup to the 2018 World Cup vote because of an injury. Real Madrid said the Portugal winger needs to recover for Saturday's match against Valencia.
The Belgium-Netherlands bid was hoping to be boosted by the arrival of Johan Cruijff.
