Minister for Sport, Jack Chambers, has revealed the Government has a ‘special events division’ set up to work on bringing the World Cup to Ireland.
Last night it was sensationally revealed that the Government has joined forces with Boris Johnson’s UK administration to launch a joint bid to bring the FIFA flagship event to Ireland and Britain in 2030.
There will be huge competition for hosting when the bidding process opens next year as 2030 will be the centenary staging of the huge tournament.
But last night’s major announcement from the two governments puts the UK and Ireland in an early strong position.
Mr Chambers told RTE’s Morning Ireland: “We have an ambitious bid across the two islands to try and work together to bring the biggest football, and one of the biggest tournaments in the world to our shores - it’s really positive.
“We are going to do everything we can to work with the different football associations and the British Government to try and advance this in a really positive way.”
Mr Chambers also indicated that the country would be leveraging the use of our world-class GAA stadiums outside the Capital to host matches.
There is only one FAI venue large enough to host World Cup matches here, the Aviva, so other stadiums from the rugby and GAA codes would be required.
The Minister also expressed confidence that the gaffe-prone FAI was capable of getting its house in order for the opening of the big bid process next year.
