KUALA LUMPUR, November 6 (FIFA) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has hailed the impact of the Taylor Report in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 as the turning point for English football, citing it as the key reason behind the country's bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals.
Ninety six Liverpool fans were crushed to death during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, a tragedy which prompted the commissioning of the report and the advent of all-seater stadia.
"If you look at the organisation of football in England, and also in Scotland, it has all come out of the disaster in Sheffield at Hillsborough in 1989," said the FIFA president.
"The decision was taken under the government that all team sports, not just football, will be played in all-seater stadiums and it was here that the success of the English Premier League started.
"It was a decision of the government and they had to renovate the stadiums or build new stadiums and now you don't need to touch them and they have another 10 or 11 years to go before the tournament."
England have emerged as the early favourites to host the 2018 World Cup, even though the bidding war is expected to feature a significant number of footballing and economic heavyweights. As a result, Blatter is expecting a tight tussle for the hosting rights.
"Don't forget they will have the same facilities in China, which we saw at the Women's World Cup," he said.
"And there is also Australia and Japan and other countries. There will be candidates from the United States, from Canada and from Mexico.
"England is a small place but they are strong and they do a lot of advertising and get a lot of publicity. We can see the Premier League on television anywhere. The race has not yet been officially opened but it will be a great race."
South Africa are due to host the 2010 World Cup with Brazil announced as the venue for 2014 after being the only candidate from South America to put forward a bid, a scenario which prompted FIFA to scrap the rotation policy.
Despite only making the decision public at the end of last week, England, Australia, China, Japan and the United States have all been linked with bids as well as a combined effort from Belgium and the Netherlands.
"I think it's absolutely tremendous," said Blatter. "We have taken the decision on 2010 but we haven't played any games, the host of 2014 has just been announced and already we have between five and eight big countries who want to organise the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
"That means football is a wonderful product and the World Cup is the number one in the world. If you go to the television audience, it's far higher than the Olympic Games. It is the game that is so popular."
"If you look at the organisation of football in England, and also in Scotland, it has all come out of the disaster in Sheffield at Hillsborough in 1989," said the FIFA president.
"The decision was taken under the government that all team sports, not just football, will be played in all-seater stadiums and it was here that the success of the English Premier League started.
"It was a decision of the government and they had to renovate the stadiums or build new stadiums and now you don't need to touch them and they have another 10 or 11 years to go before the tournament."
England have emerged as the early favourites to host the 2018 World Cup, even though the bidding war is expected to feature a significant number of footballing and economic heavyweights. As a result, Blatter is expecting a tight tussle for the hosting rights.
"Don't forget they will have the same facilities in China, which we saw at the Women's World Cup," he said.
"And there is also Australia and Japan and other countries. There will be candidates from the United States, from Canada and from Mexico.
"England is a small place but they are strong and they do a lot of advertising and get a lot of publicity. We can see the Premier League on television anywhere. The race has not yet been officially opened but it will be a great race."
South Africa are due to host the 2010 World Cup with Brazil announced as the venue for 2014 after being the only candidate from South America to put forward a bid, a scenario which prompted FIFA to scrap the rotation policy.
Despite only making the decision public at the end of last week, England, Australia, China, Japan and the United States have all been linked with bids as well as a combined effort from Belgium and the Netherlands.
"I think it's absolutely tremendous," said Blatter. "We have taken the decision on 2010 but we haven't played any games, the host of 2014 has just been announced and already we have between five and eight big countries who want to organise the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
"That means football is a wonderful product and the World Cup is the number one in the world. If you go to the television audience, it's far higher than the Olympic Games. It is the game that is so popular."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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