Behind KC's bid: KC/USA Host City Bid Committee.
Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium has been named as one of the match sites in consideration should the United States be selected as the host country for the FIFA World Cup, soccer’s premier global event, in either 2018 or 2022.
The announcement came today from the USA Bid Committee, which in May 2010 will submit the formal U.S. application to be a World Cup host country to the Federation Internationale de Football Association, the world governing body of the sport. FIFA will select the host countries for 2018 and 2022 in December 2010.
Kansas City joins a list of 27 U.S. Cities and 32 venues still in the running, down from an original list of 72 sports facilities in 52 cities around the country. The United States is one of seven countries that have expressed the desire to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022: Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the U.S. The Netherland and Belgium and Portugal-Spain submitted joint bids for both years. Qatar and South Korea have applied to host the event in 2022 only.
“Bringing the FIFA World Cup, the greatest international sporting event in the world, to Kansas City was a dream of my father’s throughout his career,” said Clark Hunt, chairman of the board of the Kansas City Chiefs and co-chair of the Kansas City/USA Host City Bid Committee along with Neal Patterson, chairman and CEO of Kansas City-based Cerner Corp. and co-owner of the Kansas City Wizards soccer club.
Also on the Kansas City Bid Committee is Peter Vermes, technical director and interim head coach of the Wizards. Vermes helped lead a young U.S. soccer squad to an unexpected qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. It was the first U.S. team to compete in the World Cup in 40 years. Since that time, the U.S. has qualified for every World Cup tournament.
“Appearing in the FIFA World Cup was the highlight of my playing career,” Vermes said in a statement issued by the Kansas City/USA Host City Bid Committee. “And helping bring the event to my adopted hometown of Kansas City would be a highlight of my post-playing career.”
In addition to leaders from the Chiefs, Wizards and Cerner, Kansas City’s bid committee features representatives from a wide range of organizations from the public and private sector, including the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation, the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city of Kansas City, Mo., the United Government of Wyandotte County and Populous, formerly HOK Sports Venue Event.
FIFA requires candidate host countries to provide a minimum of 12 stadiums and a maximum of 18, all capable of seating 40,000 or more spectators. When the U.S. last served as host country for the World Cup, in 1994, stadiums in nine cities were used for the international tournament, which drew a record attendance of nearly 3.6 million to 52 matches.
U.S. cities and sports venues on the short list if the United States is selected as the host city for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup:
Atlanta (Georgia Dome)
Baltimore (M&T Stadium)
Boston (Gillette Stadium)
Charlotte (Bank of America Stadium)
Chicago (Soldier Field)
Dallas (Cotton Bowl, Cowboys Stadium)
Denver (INVESCO Field)
Detroit (Ford Field, Miichigan Stadium)
Houston (Reliant Stadium)
Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium)
Jacksonville (Jacksonville Municipal Stadium)
KANSAS CITY (ARROWHEAD STADIUM)
Los Angeles (Los Angeles Coliuseum, Rose Bowl)
Miami (Land Shark Stadium)
Nashville (LP Field)
New York/NJ (New Meadowlands Stadium)
Oakland (Oakland-Alamedia County Coliseum)
Orlando (Flroida Citrus Bowl)
Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
Phoenix/Glendale (University of Phoenix Stadium)
San Diego (Qualcomm Stadium)
San Francisco (Stanford Stadium)
Seattle (Qwest Field, Husky Stadium)
St. Louis (Edward Jones Dome)
Tampa (Raymond James Stadium)
Washington, D.C. (RFK Stadium, FedExField)
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