As FIFA executive committee members meet today to make the historic vote on who will host the tournament, the England bid ? shattered by violence during Euro 2000 involving England soccer fans, and a FIFA report placing its facilities behind that of South Africa and Germany ? looks set to crash out of the voting in one of the first rounds.
But bid chief Alec McGiven said the money had not been wasted: ?You cannot run a bid on the cheap and people are naive if they think otherwise. We are the only campaign which has been open about what it has spent and, if we lose, there is no doubt that some people will say it is money down the drain.
?But if you look at it properly, $15m is an amazingly modest investment compared to the rewards. There has to be a risk.?
Chief of the England 2006 World Cup has said the $15m campaign was money well spent ? despite the fact the bid now seems destined to fail.
