A DELEGATION from the team that’s putting together England’s 2018 FIFA World Cup bid will be in Leicester tomorrow (15th). 
 
The team will be making its first visit to Leicester to see how the city’s bid to host World Cup games is shaping up. 
 
And although the England team has stressed that this initial visit is not an inspection, but an opportunity to help Leicester prepare its bid, members of Leicester’s bid team are determined to put on a good show. 
 
“We’re looking forward to showing the England 2018 delegation around the city and county,” said cabinet member for regeneration and transport, Cllr Patrick Kitterick. 
 
“We’ll be showing them around the Walkers stadium – which would host the World Cup matches – but we’ll also be taking them to look at some key hotels, the parks that would host the Fan Fests and venues that would be used for training. 
 
“The feedback they give us will be invaluable, as we continue to work on Leicester’s bid.” 
 
Members of Leicester’s bid team, including representatives from the city council, the county council, Leicester City Football Club, Prospect Leicestershire, Leicester Tigers, Leicestershire Police, Loughborough University and Leicester Shire Promotions, will be involved in tomorrow’s visit. 
 
A spokesperson for England 2018 said: “These first stage visits have been structured to achieve familiarity with the cities’ intentions in the early stages of their submission. 
 
“The process is designed to assist the cities with written feedback on their proposals and aid their path towards a completed presentation and final submission to the selections committee in November.” 
 
The inspection team will make a further visit to Leicester in September, before the city submits its final bid on November 6th. 
 
Leicester is one of 15 cities to have submitted outline bids to the England 2018 team last week. 
 
Around 16 stadiums are expected to be part of England’s bid, with some cities providing more than one stadium. 
 
An announcement on the final list of host cities will be made in December. The successful cities will then be included in the England 2018 Bid Book to be presented to FIFA next year. 
 
(ends)