Boris Johnson Backs UK and Ireland’s Bid to Host 2030 World Cup

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson sits in front of a Union flag as he talks with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan inside 10 Downing Street in central London, on Dec. 10, 2020. (Gareth Fuller/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered his support to a potential joint bid by both the UK and the Republic of Ireland to host the 2030 World Cup.

“Let’s bring football home in 2030. I would love for the home of football to host the 2030 World Cup, and it would be a wonderful thing for the whole country to savour,” Johnson said on Tuesday.

“We want to do much more to encourage sport post-pandemic and see a bonanza of football in the years ahead,” he wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, he told the Sun newspaper he was “very, very keen” for the bid to succeed and thought it will be “the right place” and “the right time.”

The government’s support has been welcomed by the football associations of all four nations of the United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—as well as the Republic of Ireland.

In a joint statement, the football associations said they are “delighted that the UK government has committed to support a prospective five-association bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.”

“We will continue to undertake feasibility work to assess the viability of a bid before FIFA formally open[s] the process in 2022. Staging a FIFA World Cup would provide an incredible opportunity to deliver tangible benefits for our nations.

“If a decision is made to bid for the event, we look forward to presenting our hosting proposals to FIFA and the wider global football community.”

Johnson also told the Sun that the UK is prepared to increase its involvement in the UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2020, by offering to host additional games.

Euro 2020 was originally scheduled for summer 2020, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.

The UK is already hosting the semi-finals and the final, but Johnson said the country would be ready to host extra games if the organisers want it to.

Under the government’s roadmap out of the lockdown, all legal limits on social contact could be removed from June 21.