Indonesia joins race to host 2018, 2022 World Cup
Indonesia has joined the race to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
The Indonesian football federation officially expressed interest in
staging one of the tournaments to FIFA late Tuesday, becoming the sixth
potential host to show interest ahead of Monday's deadline.
England, Japan, Qatar, Russia and a joint Spain-Portugal candidacy
have already declared intentions to bid.
Other contenders including Australia, a combined
Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg proposal, Canada, China, Mexico and the
United States are expected to enter the first stage of a two-year
selection process before the cutoff.
Though its team is currently No. 144 in the FIFA world rankings,
Indonesia fulfills one major requirement of hosting the world's
most-watched sports event - it has a stadium capable of holding at least
80,000 spectators for the opening match and final.
The government-owned Bung Karno Stadium in the capital Jakarta has a
capacity of 88,000 and staged the 2007 Asian Cup final, when Iraq beat
Saudi Arabia 1-0.
Indonesia has previously made World Cup history.
It became the first Asian nation to play at a World Cup, at the 1938
tournament in France under its colonial name of the Dutch East Indies.
The team lost 6-0 to eventual runner-up Hungary in a first-round match
at Reims.
Indonesia was quickly knocked out of qualifying for the 2010 World
Cup being played in South Africa. It advanced through the Asian first
round when opponent Guam withdrew, then lost 11-1 to Syria in a
two-legged series in November 2007.
FIFA began the process of choosing the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts
two weeks ago. It will issue official bid forms next month, which must
be returned by March 16. Candidates capable of providing around 12
stadiums each holding at least 40,000 fans can apply for either the 2018
or the 2022 tournament, or for both.
ZURICH, Switzerland, AP |