Ireland to bid for the World Cup in 2018?

[ifk101]

So what do you think? Is it a possibility?

http://www.eleven-a-side.com/offthefield/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=29832

[pineapple stu]

Let's get some grounds that could host the World Cup first...

[ifk101]

Let's get some grounds that could host the World Cup first...

Croke Park, Lansdowne, Thomond and St. Coleman's Park ;)

[Colbert Report]

A joint bid with Scotland could work. Croke Park and the new Landsdowne would both be suitable grounds. They could have all three of Ireland's matches at Croke Park, the others at Landsdowne, then two second round matches and one quarterfinal at Croker. Every other match in Scotland. It won't happen though, England will get it. Bidding for the Euros is a much more likely thing, if the GAA will allow it.

[Thunderblaster]

The idea should be killed stone dead before it even starts.

[Cymro]

This comes up every few months with either Wales, Ireland or Scotland talking about a joint bid. In theory, a joint bid between all three could work, but we all need to actually build some decent sized stadia first then start talking about a bid.

I'd say the Euros are a more realistic possibilty than the World Cup, though having a World Cup in the Celtic countries would be amazing.

[Jerry The Saint]

Let's get some grounds that could host the World Cup first...

I think you mean - Let's have some grounds that could host the FAI Cup first. The only feasible ground, the RDS, has not met with universal approval and (according to the FAI...:rolleyes:) was not even available on the "first-choice" date for the final.

People say - in theory, a joint bid with Scotland could work, in theory. But even the concept is flawed, a joint bid would be far too concentrated in Dublin and Glasgow for the idea to fly with FIFA (ignoring the possible bribery factor).


The Minister has asked the Department to work with the FAI to determine the feasibility of it, to look at the detailed criteria which Fifa demands of any countries coming together to make a bid.

Why? Why would you do that? There's lightbulbs need changing in a hospital somewhere if you're that bored.


“If that shows that we will have the infrastructure and that we could combine with someone else, well, he [i.e. Mr Brennan] just wants to establish that first, to see if it’s possible or not.”

NO. Not possible. There, just saved everyone a lot of time. The only fee I ask for is the cash that would have been spent on the feasiblity study. :)

[mypost]

Chance of hosting: 0%
Chance of bidding: 0%

It will probably go to the USA or Mexico. (whichever one gets the backing of the other)

[Torn-Ado]

A joint bid with Scotland could work. Croke Park and the new Landsdowne would both be suitable grounds. They could have all three of Ireland's matches at Croke Park, the others at Landsdowne, then two second round matches and one quarterfinal at Croker. Every other match in Scotland. It won't happen though, England will get it. Bidding for the Euros is a much more likely thing, if the GAA will allow it.

No it couldn't. Ever.

[cavan_fan]

A joint bid with Scotland could work. Croke Park and the new Landsdowne would both be suitable grounds. They could have all three of Ireland's matches at Croke Park, the others at Landsdowne, then two second round matches and one quarterfinal at Croker. Every other match in Scotland. It won't happen though, England will get it. Bidding for the Euros is a much more likely thing, if the GAA will allow it.

A couple of reasons among the many:

The UK government is pushing an England bid, they wouldnt support a Scottish one

There are maybe 3 cities in the 2 countries with adequate stadia

Joint bids are generally not favoured

UEFA will support Russia/England or Holl/Belg before us

We and Scotland have no experience of hosting anything!

Transport links in Ireland are cr*p (tiny airport no urban transport system, limited rail)


I could go on but if the Govt and FAI give me 10,000 euro I'll tell them they cant have it.

[Qwerty]

You would need a minimum of 6 stadia with a minimum capacity of 40,000 and I think FIFA prefer 8. Also it would be confined to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin which again is not what FIFA would like. It's a complete non-starter, probably complete BS or a delusional FF minister looking for some cheap publicity. And I'm sure the SFA would not hitch their boat to the FAI.

[Thunderblaster]

This comes up every few months with either Wales, Ireland or Scotland talking about a joint bid. In theory, a joint bid between all three could work, but we all need to actually build some decent sized stadia first then start talking about a bid.

I'd say the Euros are a more realistic possibilty than the World Cup, though having a World Cup in the Celtic countries would be amazing.

Sure, our Euro 2008 bid with Scotland ended up being shambolic at the end, largely at the UEFA team being shown a field and a stadium that was not open to footie. It was the Irish that crashed that bid.

[pineapple stu]

Sure, our Euro 2008 bid with Scotland ended up being shambolic at the end, largely at the UEFA team being shown a field and a stadium that was not open to footie. It was the Irish that crashed that bid.
Exactly. This whole story is nonsense, for exactly that reason. Nothing has actually improved stadium wise since then - we're still talking about a renovated Lansdowne, a ground we won't be let have and a ground that hasn't been planned yet, but sure if we want some publicity, let's talk about it.

[Noelys Guitar]

Not a hope in hell. I spoke to a Dutch football journalist who had came over to Ireland with the Eufa delegation pre our bid for 2008. Like a Monty Phython sketch was how he described it.

[stojkovic]

Not a hope in hell. I spoke to a Dutch football journalist who had came over to Ireland with the Eufa delegation pre our bid for 2008. Like a Monty Phython sketch was how he described it.

Exactly, its a fcuking joke.

We dont even have one 10,000 all-seater stadium.

FAI - concentrate on qualifying rather than hosting. Or is that the only way you think we will qualify.

[eirebhoy]

You would need a minimum of 6 stadia with a minimum capacity of 40,000 and I think FIFA prefer 8.
I think the minimum is actually 9 and FIFA prefer 12. They also would not allow 4 or 5 stadiums to be spread between 2 cities. It's usually no more than 1 per city but they'll allow for one city to have more than 1.

[teckno]

Hey all,
Its fine saying that the euro 2008 bid was a joke we had no stadia etc but look at the reality.

Brazil have just been awarded the rights to host world cup 2014 with 0 yes thats right 0 stadiums fit enough to host any games, a massive redevelopment project will have to be put in place to redesign and construct new stadia.So it is obviously ok to present to a delegation a blank canvass with plans for future development

I think a world cup is without doubt out of the question but I dont see why a Euro bid could not work in the future. If Euro 2016 sees the tournament expanded to 24 teams it would be a perfect time to launch a celtic bid with the four country's NIRL, IRL, SCO, and Wales. Stadiums

NI - new Maze,
IRL- Lansdowne, or possibly Croker
Wal - Cardiff, Swansea,
Scot- Murrayfield, Hampden, Parkhead, and 1-2 new stadiums in dundee or aberdeen

Be

[Lionel Ritchie]

If we just have ourselves an auld Krystal nacht or Night of the Long Knives we could seize Croker (Dublin), Pairc Ui Caoimh (Cork), Pairc Na Gael (Limerick), Semple (Thurles) plus a handful of other similar bogball emporiums and add to them Landsdowne (Dublin) and Thomond Park (Limerick) and you're pretty much there -or about as close to there as the Brazilians currently are.

Entirely do-able.

The GAA would even get to fill a handful of their vainglorious monstrosities for a change.

[stojkovic]

If we just have ourselves an auld Krystal nacht or Night of the Long Knives we could seize Croker (Dublin), Pairc Ui Caoimh (Cork), Pairc Na Gael (Limerick), Semple (Thurles) plus a handful of other similar bogball emporiums and add to them Landsdowne (Dublin) and Thomond Park (Limerick) and you're pretty much there -or about as close to there as the Brazilians currently are.

Entirely do-able.

The GAA would even get to fill a handful of their vainglorious monstrosities for a change.

Sounds good to me.

Nationalise the GAA and reclaim what the tax-payers paid for.

[osarusan]

Does anybody remember about 10/25 years ago, the Irish govt sent somebody off to some Olympic meeting which outlined criteria for hosting the Olympics, with the aim of seeing if Ireland had a viable chance of hosting it?

He returned with the opinion that Ireland hadn't the capabilities to hold the meeting he'd just attended, never mind the Olympics itself.

I'd say it's a similar situation here.

It is a ridiculous idea, which would waste millions just in research, and hundreds of millions if ever undertaken.

Whatever it costs to host the World Cup, in terms of building 40/50,000 seater stadiums, I'm sure enough 10,000 all-seater stadiums could be built to cover every team in the eL.

[Colbert Report]

The only way this could happen is if the English FA were willing to spread out the stadia in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in exchange for support of their bid. I honestly believe that in the next fifty years we'll see a Euro finals match played in Dublin.

[endabob1]

There are dozens of reasons that this won't work but the main ones are pretty straightforward.
1 - The British govt has already said it will back Englands bid therefore the chances of Scotland or the Scottish FA getting backing/funding from the govt is virtually Zero
2 - There isn't enough grounds, Scotland has 4 (in 2 cities) Ireland will have 1. Croke Park is still a GAA stadium and there are no guarantees that the current temporary lifting of the ban will be repeated for a foreign sports championship which would raise the profile of one of the GAA's main competitors to unprecedented levels. South Africa has 10 spread over 9 cities. Germany had 12 in 12 cities
And finally the most compelling reason that it won't happen
3 - The FAI are involved.

[Claret Murph]

Hummmmmm let me see if say that 47 games will be played in Croke park and we hope to have the final in Lansdowne and that's only if they get it finished in time by 2018 ...

So I am talking poo ....Yes as we have no hope of feilding the world cup :cool::(;)

[beautifulrock]

Not a hope, more silly bogball references from the usual fools. As was said earlier lets just qualify. England will host 2018, Stadia are already in place bar the new Liverpool FC one.

[EalingGreen]

STOP PRESS:

Craggy Island has just offered to stage the 2014 Winter Olympics, on condition that it can be in July or August. (Apparently it's too friggin' cold the rest of the year...)

[elroy]

This is just ridiculous beyond belief.

Step one would be for LR to hopefully get a UEFA Cup final and that event to go well, then maybe we could consider submitting another joint bid with Scotland from the Euros. We would need help from both the IRFU and the GAA (which may not be so forthcoming in June) to use the redeveloped Thomond Park and Croker. Then we would have three decent stadia for submission along with a Scotish bid, there may be a decent chance of us geting the Euros then.

[endabob1]

Do we not think it would be a better exercise to start with the U21 Euros (8 teams max 20 games) which would require 4 grounds 1 big one (lansdowne) 1 medium (Thomond) and 2 smaller grounds of about 10k capacity which would at least be able to be used for LOI football in the future.

[citizenerased]

laughable to even mention this...you need about 8 top stadiums, not economicable viable..we will worry about gettin one first

[ifk101]

Do we not think it would be a better exercise to start with the U21 Euros (8 teams max 20 games) which would require 4 grounds 1 big one (lansdowne) 1 medium (Thomond) and 2 smaller grounds of about 10k capacity which would at least be able to be used for LOI football in the future.

I understand that the FAI and IFA are making a bid for the U21 Euros.

[EalingGreen]

This is just ridiculous beyond belief.

Step one would be for LR to hopefully get a UEFA Cup final and that event to go well, then maybe we could consider submitting another joint bid with Scotland from the Euros. We would need help from both the IRFU and the GAA (which may not be so forthcoming in June) to use the redeveloped Thomond Park and Croker. Then we would have three decent stadia for submission along with a Scotish bid, there may be a decent chance of us geting the Euros then.

Tbh, whilst I'd love to see the Euros held close to home, I can't see a joint SFA/FAI bid being successful, especially if the tournament is increased to 24 teams, since even combined, the two countries simply don't have enough large cities, nor the transport infrastructure (exacerbated by being separated by the Irish Sea):

"Hosting requirements and their impact on the pool of candidate hosts
In the current 16-team format, and because of the requirement that both final matches of a qualifying group be played at the same time, the practical minimum number of stadia is eight. At least one stadium must have UEFA 5-star rating to host the final, and all others must have 4-star rating or more. Also, concentrating more than two stadia in a single host city is likely to put severe strain on that city's transportation and lodging infrastructure. This means that host stadia must be located in at least four different cities—generally six to eight in practice, as few cities outside the capitals of most European countries have enough resident sports teams with attendances high enough to justify the existence of two large stadia. As a consequence, transport between venues for the teams and the large numbers of visiting fans is of crucial importance and often requires significant investment to improve road, rail, and air networks.

These demanding requirements make it increasingly difficult for small- and medium-sized countries to host a European Championship alone. The population of Portugal, at just over 10 million, may represent the threshold below which a country cannot bid by itself. Though Portugal staged a successful championship in 2004, it is unclear whether its investment will pay off. Some of the stadia built for the occasion are rarely, if ever, full during domestic league or cup matches.

Joint hosting, as done in 2000 and 2008, can offer a solution to this problem. Since the 1990s, countries have been allowed to act as joint hosts. Belgium and the Netherlands were the first countries to co-host the competition in 2000. In the 2008 tournament Austria and Switzerland will co-host the event, held from June 7 - June 29, 2008. UEFA has unofficially set the maximum number of co-hosts at two by turning down a so-called "Nordic bid" of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden to jointly host the 2008 championships. With two co-hosts, each organizing country needs only provide good transportation between three or four host cities and build or renovate four stadia, with a better chance of a positive return on investment. A large number of nations with populations around five million, such as Scotland or Croatia, now have an opportunity to become hosts. An element of sporting fairness is also present, as co-hosting gives smaller countries with good national teams (such as the Czech Republic) the same opportunity as their football equals with larger populations (such as Spain) to earn a championship berth without having to qualify.

With the proposed expansion of the championship to 24 teams, the requirements become even more stringent. The experience of past 24-team World Cups (1982 to 1994) shows that nine to 12 stadia are necessary to host such a competition, 12 being the ideal number. In practice, eight to 12 cities are now involved, which magnifies transportation and lodging issues.

If UEFA maintains its unofficial limit of two co-hosts, the minimum country size to mount a bid will therefore increase and will probably lie between five and 10 million. It is also possible that UEFA would become open to joint bids by three countries, which would keep the requirements unchanged for each co-host and enable the same pool of nations to bid as in the 16-team format. Qualifying would, however, become marginally more difficult for non-hosts: 21 berths would remain open to 48 teams (i.e., a 43.8% selection rate), versus 22 berths for 49 teams (a 44.9% rate) for a two-host championship."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_European_Football_Championship

[Sligo Hornet]

This Thread should be binned, or at least moved to a more appropriate location i.e. "Off Topic JOKES"!!:o

[ruben_sosa]

nevermind the stadiums. Ireland would require an entirely new transport infrastructure in each host city, a new airport terminal, thousands of extra cops, a new power station, and dozens of new hotels to deal with hundreds of thousands of people who would come here during a World Cup.

...or add a few extra dart carriages, that'll suffice.

[eirebhoy]

The only way this could happen is if the English FA were willing to spread out the stadia in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in exchange for support of their bid. I honestly believe that in the next fifty years we'll see a Euro finals match played in Dublin.
It would mean though that these 4 or 5 countries will qualify automatically for the tournament which is a bit much.

[DaveyCakes]

In all the talk of World Cup and Euro bid, no one ever mentions that such a tournament would be held in the middle of the GAA championship season. Do we really expect the GAA to hand over Croker for a month?

[KianD]

Friend of mine attempted to justify this with the idea that it'd be a north/south bid, taking in to account the fact that you'd never get away with more than two stadia a "city":

1: Croker
2: Lansdowne
3: Thomond (after another refit)
4: Musgrave (make its upcoming refit significantly larger)
5: Pairc Ui Caoimh (GAA are making it 50k allseater apparently)
6: Semple (also being re-fiited to have more than 40k seats + terracing I believe)
7: Long Kesh
8: Either Ravenhill or Windsor redone - but I think neither site is capable of it.

But, theres still major problems with that, namely its still short two stadia, and the GAA would never let you have three of their stadia at that time of the year - if at all.

[carloz]

Also im fairly sure that to host a world cup only one city can have two stadia's. Obviously Dublin would have 2 so that means no other city can have. This would really effect Scotland if they were to bid with us. Our last bid for the European Championships was laughable. I feel the 2018 world cup will go to Australia. All the stadiums already there, have hosted a rugby world cup, and the game is really developing there

[pete]

Pathetic waste of time & resources. If we can't host the European Championship then no hope of thew World Cup. You would need at least 10 stadiums & absolute minimum capacity is 30,000. Ireland could provide maybe 1 large & 2 small stadiums. The GAA would rather burn Croke Park to the ground than let the FAI use for the World Cup. If Ireland were serious they would host under age European Tournaments building up to the U21s & show Uefa they can organise & get big crowds before applying for the European Championship which is more realistic if they actually put effort into it.

[Wolfie]

So what do you think? Is it a possibility?

http://www.eleven-a-side.com/offthefield/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=29832

Preposterous. Not a hope in light of our current infrastructure and lack of stadia.

England would have a far more realistic chance of securing it.

[Kingdom]

Also im fairly sure that to host a world cup only one city can have two stadia's. Obviously Dublin would have 2 so that means no other city can have. This would really effect Scotland if they were to bid with us. Our last bid for the European Championships was laughable. I feel the 2018 world cup will go to Australia. All the stadiums already there, have hosted a rugby world cup, and the game is really developing there

Obviously we'd all love to host the Euro's or the WC but it is not realistic to be fair. If there was universal agreement amongst the various sporting organisations we definitely would have the stadiums to fill that part of the criteria even going on the 1 stadium per city, however the infrastructure is never likely to be good enough so its probably pie in the sky.

As for all the clamour over England going for the World Cup, I agree with Carloz there in that Australia should be a front runner for the 2018 championships. England has had it before, and if a new applicant has the facilities they should take priority. China too, if the Olympics is a success are mooted to be preparing a bid. I'd prefer to see it go to either of those places ahead of England.

[Torn-Ado]

Anyone remember when the result of the 2008 UEFA bid was live on telly and the tw*ts on sky news said that the Scotland and Ireland bid was down to the last two when in fact we were one of the first to be eliminated.

Sky f*ckin news.

[back of the net]

absolutely ZERO chance of us hosting a world cup in 2018 - the only chance we have of a big football tournament coming to ireland is the Euro Champs and that prob would have to be a joint bid with the Rep:, the north , and scotland or wales

2018 wc will be in england / russia - not ere im afraid - 3018 maybe but thats a few years away

[stojkovic]

2018 wc will be in england / russia - not ere im afraid - 3018 maybe but thats a few years away

With the FAI I think thats a realistic target.

[Newryrep]

We have a better chance of hosting the Winter Olympics than any World Cup/European Championships

[kingdom hoop]

I don't really like British people though.

Why can't we do a joint bid with Japan or Iceland instead?

:D That's one of those strange I'm laughing precisely because it isn't funny posts!

I think nearly all the cons have been put forth and are obviously very hard to argue with. The problem I see though is not with the GAA being obstinate or not moving fixtures (the AI football final was moved cos of the Ryder Cup last year) but with UEFA having outlawed terracing for internationals. Otherwise a bid would be a great spur for renewed infrastructural investment on important things like roads etc, not the 'it is just for Christmas stadiums.' This is because there are 16 GAA stadiums with a capacity of more than 25,000 - all in different towns - and by the time any tournament would come around there would be at least five (Croke, Fitzgerald, Uí Chaoimh, Gaelic Grounds and Semple) stadiums with more than 50,000 capacity. So now all we have to do is get lobbying to FIFA, show that terraces as well as being raucous are also eminently safe. Come on lads, get the petition going! :)

[pete]

I think it must have been these (http://www.table-soccer.org/news/index.php5?news=196) World Championships that the FAI talking about?

:D

[kingdomkerry]

The pesimism is unbelievable.

1.Croker (surely the gaa could be convinced to do without croker for four weeks ie give them €10million and they'll jump)

2. LR

3. Thomond Park (will have to improve on the 30,000 capacity being built as we speak.)

4. Pairc Ui Caoimh (60,000 seater in the planning process)

5. Killarney ( a better option that Thurles because it would cater for the accomodation etc which no other town could)

6. Belfast. (they tell us they are trying to build one

7. Galway. Great city sure lets build one for them.

The rest could be in Scotland.

And yes I know most of the above are'nt built yet but what about Brazil's bid. The amount of money the government would make from hosting the WC would entice them to help fund the stadia.

The road infrastructure is well on its way to being up to scratch. Rail to a lesser extent.

[kingdomkerry]

S

Slightly off topic but anyway, This is something that ****es me off. I'll use Limerick as an example

Limerick:
Millions have been spent on the Gaelic Grounds capacity 40,000 but not a state of the art stadium just adequate for GAA.
Musgrave: 30,000 state of the art stadium presently being built
Jackman Park: Absolute kip.

Why the hell do all organisations come together and build one top class stadium between them with at least a 50,000 capacity stadium.

The exact could same could be said for Galway (Salthill, Terryland Park, and whatever you call where Connacht play the rugby)

and Cork (Musgrave, Pairc Ui Caoimhe, and Turners Cross).

Are people retarded like!!!!!!!!

[jmurphyc]

But the GAA would have to let the FAI use Croke Park during the GAA season - it's not going to happen. A lot of the rest of them haven't been built. It's not pessimistic, it's just realistic. Brazil have a population of 300 million and have hosted WCs before, that's a different story. A European Championship is a possibility in the future, but there's no chance we'll land a World Cup. Besides, this is the FAI we're talking about.

[Metrostars]

Will ye all stop this pie in the sky dreaming.

The Euros/WC are played in June/July which is the busiest time for the GAA. No chance on getting any GAA grounds. And without GAA, there is LR and.......????

[kingdomkerry]

The GAA could get by with using Thurles, Gaelic Grounds and the countless others they have for a 4 week period if they were enticed financially to do so!