Highcross Leicester showed its support for the city’s World Cup bid by choosing Leicester’s sporting pedigree as the theme for a spectacular sand sculpture based in its Covent Garden-style restaurant quarter, St Peter’s Square.

 

The giant sculpture, featuring a boy in a Leicester City shirt and surrounded by the mascots of the city’s football, rugby and cricket teams, was created by world champion sand sculptor Nicola Wood using 10 tonnes of sand.

 

Tom Nathan, general manager at Highcross, said: “We’re delighted to give our backing to Leicester’s World Cup bid.

 

“Leicester has become renowned for its sporting heritage and to show off our city’s fantastic developments, like Highcross, to football fans from all over the world would be a great honour.”

 

Nicola Wood, who’s one of the world’s leading sand sculptors, said: “Being from landlocked Leicester, it’s not often I get the opportunity to bring my work home.

 

“I hope that the sculpture reminds people that Leicester’s a city with a great sporting heritage that would be a great place for the World Cup.”

 

The mascots from Leicestershire County Cricket Club and the Leicester Tigers joined Leicester City legend Alan ‘The Birch’ Birchenall to unveil the sculpture and to give their backing to Leicester’s bid.

 

“The World Cup is probably the world’s greatest sporting event,” said the Birch.  

 

“If this city can be part of that, what a great thing it would be for Leicester City Football Club, the city and the county.

“This city is ready to host something of the magnitude of a World Cup.”

 

People can show their support for Leicester’s bid by voting on the official England 2018 Bid website.

 

By logging on to http://www.england2018bid.com and selecting Leicester as their preferred host city, local people can show the FA that they’re backing Leicester’s bid.

 

Around 16 stadiums are expected to be part of England’s bid, with some cities providing more than one stadium. Leicester will find out if the Walkers stadium is one of them in December.

 

England will then submit its bid to FIFA in May 2010, with a decision on the host country for the 2018 tournament due in December 2010.