Russians threaten England's 2018 goal

Learning that the United States may pitch in with a bid to stage the 2018 World Cup may have rung alarm bells at the Football Association and in Gordon Brown's office, but England face a far bigger threat to their ambition to host the tournament. Russia are also preparing to launch a bid which would make them serious rivals.

This was con-firmed to me here by their sports minister, Vyacheslav Fetisov, who says he feels the timing is right as the competition has never been held in Eastern Europe. Fetisov, who is also a key player in the bid by Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Olympics (see page 73), has high hopes of bringing both the Games and the World Cup to Russia in the next decade. He says: "We have never held the Winter Games despite winning more medals than any other country, and in football we are one of the world's biggest nations, with great experience in hosting major international events. Russia would welcome the opportunity and we are ready for the challenge." Six new top-class football stadiums are planned for Moscow alone and, significantly, Fetisov has a good personal relationship with Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, who like himself is a former ice hockey player.

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