US President Barack Obama has written to Sepp Blatter in support of the USA’s bids to host the football World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.
According to the New York Times, President Obama’s letter was hand-delivered to Blatter, president of football’s world governing body FIFA. A part of the letter was released to the newspaper by the United States Soccer Federation with permission from the White House.
“As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighbourhood together,” the president said, referring to the years from ages 6 to 10 that he spent in Indonesia with his mother. “As a father, I saw that same spirit of unity alive on the fields and sidelines of my own daughters’ soccer games in Chicago.”
“Soccer is truly the world’s sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe, that is why this bid is about much more than a game. It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.”
Obama recently sent a video aimed at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) supporting Chicago’s bid to hold the 2016 Olympic Games.
