(ATR) England football star David Beckham is set to capture the headlines Friday when he leads the country's 2018 World Cup bid presentation to FIFA president Sepp Blatter in Zurich.
The LA Galaxy midfielder, England's most capped outfield player, heads the five-member England 2018 delegation taking part in the handover ceremony at FIFA headquarters.
The nine bids vying to stage either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup will present their dossiers to Blatter and his colleagues in alphabetical order. FIFA has allocated 15 minutes for each handover ceremony.
The presentation of bid documents takes place from 09.00 CET. Australia will be followed by England, Holland-Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Russia, Spain-Portugal and USA.
The bid teams will hold short press conferences after their files have been handed over.
The presentation of files marks an important moment in the finely-poised 2018/2022 bidding contest. The bid teams have been working flat out for months to ensure they satisfy all FIFA requirements in the documentation, which covers everything from governmental guarantees, budgets and venue plans to accommodation, transport, security and legacy.
FIFA's World Cup requirements call for the candidate host nations to show they have 12 to 18 stadia with minimum capacities of 40,000 for group matches and 80,000 for the opening match and final.
England are the frontrunners in the race for 2018, which FIFA is widely expected to award to Europe. England 2018 is pitching the global popularity of the Premier League and the commercial revenue the country could offer FIFA in its bid to bring the World Cup back to the country for the first time since 1966 when the home nation lifted the trophy.
If 2018 headed to Europe, the race for the 2022 World Cup is likely to be a straight fight between Australia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar and USA.
Of these bids, the moneyed Qatar bid offers the most compelling reason to stage the tournament - a first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East. But the size of the Gulf state and its need to provide air-conditioned stadia to combat the summer heat problem are challenges it must overcome.
Following the handover of files, FIFA experts will evaluate the dossiers and conduct visits to each of the bidding countries over the summer.
FIFA's 24-man executive committee will decide the destination of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on Dec. 2.
With reporting from Mark Bisson
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