US withdraws from 2018 World Cup race to focus on 2022

NEW YORK - As expected, the US has withdrawn from the race to stage the 2018 football World Cup, instead focussing on their bid to host the 2022 finals.

The US bid committee announced Friday that it would exclusively focus on the 2022 campaign.

In a statement released in New York, the bid committee said they had reached their decision after several months of consultations.

“For some time we have been in conversations with FIFA and UEFA about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process, an option we have made reference to many times,” the chairman of the American bid Sunil Gulati said.

“We are confident this is in the best interests of the US Bid.”

FIFA welcomed the announcement. “We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the US bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 World Cup in Europe,” the organization’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke said.

“The announcement today by the US bid to focus solely on the 2022 World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture which is much appreciated by FIFA,” he said.

Earlier England had withdrawn their bid to host the 2022 finals, leaving Australia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar and the United States to compete for the 2022 finals.

England and Russia, as well as two co-bids from Belgium and Netherlands and Spain and Portugal are in the race to host the 2018 finals.

The World Cup was held in Africa for the first time earlier this year with South Africa hosting the event, while Brazil will stage the 2014 finals.