UK PM vows to chase 2030 World Cup bid if elected
VIDEO SHOWS: UK PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON PLAYING SOCCER WITH KIDS / SAYING HE'LL OVERSEE MORE THAN HALF A BILLION IN INVESTMENT IN THE GAME IF ELECTED AND CHASE A JOINT BID WITH IRELAND FOR THE 2030 WORLD CUP
SHOWS:
CHEADLE, NEAR MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (DECEMBER 7, 2019) (UK POOL - ACCESS ALL)
1. MAN DRESSED AS SANTA CLAUS WALKING ONTO PITCH AND SHAKING HANDS WITH BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON / SANTA ASKING JOHNSON ON WHETHER HE HAS BEEN A 'GOOD BOY' THIS YEAR AND WHAT HE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS / JOHNSON SAYS 'BREXIT'
2. JOHNSON IN GOAL AS GIRL SHOOTS A PENALTY KICK AND SCORES
3. GIRL SHOOTING PENALTY KICK AGAINST THE CROSSBAR
4. JOHNSON SAVING KICK FROM GIRL
5. JOHNSON IN GOAL
6. FORMER ENGLAND AND LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER JOHN BARNES PLACING GIRL IN GOAL
7. JOHNSON SHOOTING PENALTY KICK / GIRL SAVING KICK
8. JOHNSON MISSING PENALTY KICK
9. PEOPLE WATCHING
10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON, SAYING:
"Well, I'm talking about what we're doing to invest in grassroots football. It's the biggest ever investment in grassroots football, £550 million we're putting into it. We want to make sure that we have 20,000 more normal pitches, upgrading 20,000 normal pitches and 2,000 astroturf pitches, and what we want to do is use football to help promote not just physical, but also mental wellbeing, to encourage more inclusion which is a fantastic scheme they've got here, and expand also the female game, which is doing brilliantly here but it's still not as big in the UK as it is in some other countries, and it's all the prelude to a 2030 UK and Ireland World Cup bid, we're bidding for the World Cup again, we want to bring football home."
11. JOHNSON SPEAKING TO MEDIA
STORY: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday (December 7) that his Conservative party plan to invest 550 million pounds ($706 million) in grassroots soccer as part of plans for a bid to host the 2030 World Cup if they win next week's election.
The Conservatives are leading the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls before the Dec. 12 vote, but it is not clear whether they will be far enough ahead to secure a majority in parliament.
Earlier in the year, Labour had also said it was planning on bidding for the 2030 tournament.
The Conservatives said that the investment they seek was part of a 2 billion pound plan to ensure that by the time of the 2030 World Cup, every family in England would on average be 15 minutes from a local football pitch. The money will also be used to support growth in women's football.
The Times reported the joint bid would have matches played in several English cities, alongside Cardiff, Glasgow and Dublin, with the final to be staged at London's Wembley Stadium.
Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay have announced a four-way bid which could have sentimental value as Uruguay hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
China would be among the contenders if FIFA decide to change the rules on how the World Cup is rotated between regions.
Asian countries are ruled out from hosting in 2030 because Qatar will stage the 2022 World Cup and current regulations prevent the same region from hosting either of the subsequent two tournaments.
