The United States Soccer Federation announced today that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will be on board in order to obtain the World Cup bids for either 2018 and 2022.
U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced on Monday that former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger has accepted an invitation to join the USA Bid Committee and help drive the country’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup. The USA Bid Committee is putting together a comprehensive bid to present to FIFA by May 2010. One of the most prominent political figures in U.S. history, Dr. Kissinger has been a longtime supporter of soccer and has contributed greatly to raising the visibility of the sport in the United States. He was a crucial figure in helping bring the 1994 FIFA World Cup to the United States, serving as chairman of a 16-member advisory panel. In 1996, FIFA honored Dr. Kissinger with the Order of Merit for his service to the sport across the world. Dr. Kissinger joins five other members on the USA Bid Committee: Gulati, who will serve as the Chair of the Bid Committee, Carlos Cordeiro, non-executive Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs (Asia), U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Phil Murphy, the former National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee. The Executive Director of the Bid Committee is David Downs. Other members of the USA Bid Committee will be announced in the near future. The U.S. is one of nine countries that have formally declared their desire to submit a bid. The others are Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia, with joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain. Qatar and Korea Republic are applying solely for the 2022 tournament. FIFA’s 24-man Executive Committee will review each country’s bid and name the two hosts for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups in December 2010.
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