01.09.2010 13:03
FIFA Inspectors visit the Camp Nou
www.fcbarcelona.cat
The Camp Nou is one of the main attractions in the joint Spain-Portugal bid to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals. A team of FIFA inspectors visited the stadium this Wednesday to check out the facilities.
Spain and Portugal have submitted a joint proposal to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals with
the Camp Nou as one of the key stadiums. A FIFA team of six inspectors, headed by the president of
the Chilean FA, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, visited the stadium on Wednesday morning accompanied by
representatives of the Iberian Candidature to check whether the facilities meet the requirements of
World football’s governing body.
The inspectors were shown round the Camp Nou by Barça Board members Javier Bordas and Josep
Ramon Vidal-Abarca, Director of Football Raül Sanllehí, the Club’s representative to UEFA
Amador Bernabeu and the president of the Catalan FA, Jordi Casals.
A thorough inspection
The visit lasted an hour and took in the entire stadium, finishing with
a group photo in the Presidential Box. The inspectors all received a Barça shirt stamped with their
own names.
A good impression
Josep Ramon Vidal-Abarca, Board member responsible for the stadium, told
us that the inspectors had been impressed by what they had seen: “They seemed very pleased.
They liked the facilities very much and were particularly impressed by the visitors’ changing
rooms. They also paid special attention to the pitch. Hosting matches in the World Cup finals would
be very important for the Club as it has a world-wide impact”.
Four stadiums in four cities
Apart from the Camp Nou, the FIFA inspectors are also visiting the
Santiago Bernabeu (Madrid) the Do Dragao stadium (Porto) and the Estadio Do Sport (Lisbon). They
are particularly keen to check out the capacity for both spectators and the media, safety features
and the quality of the facilities.
In the addition to the stadiums themselves, the inspectors are also visiting key facilities
in the host cities. In the case of Barcelona, they took in the Catalonia Palace of Congresses.
The other eight candidatures
Apart from the Iberian Candidature, bids have also been put forward by England, Australia, Belgium
and Holland, the USA, Japan, Qatar, Korea Republic and Russia. Inspections will continue until the
middle of September and FIFA will announce their decision on 2nd December.