New Delhi, July 17: China is willing to fight for the right to host the football World Cup in 2026.
According to the China Daily, the head of the Chinese Football Association, Wei Di, who was present at the recently concluded World Cup, was impressed by his experiences in South Africa and said the Association will submit a bid proposal to the Chinese General Administration of Sport "as soon as possible".
"I think China should apply for the World Cup. We will make an official report to the sport''s governing body shortly," Wei said in Beijing.
"We have so many fans that are crazy for football and they care for our national team so much, we should give them a chance to watch the World Cup on home soil," he added.
The paper also stated that after the success of the Beijing Games, China considered bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Sepp Blatter, to which the President of soccer governing body FIFA, also rendered his support. But the country did not apply to host the event.
Wei said that China has enough strength and resources to undertake such a representative tournament, as the world championship.
Currently, China has four stadiums with a capacity of more than 60,000, including the Bird''s Nest in Beijing.
The next World Cup finals will be held in Brazil in 2014 and FIFA will decide the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 events by the end of this year.