British Prime Minister Gordon Brown left his Commonwealth colleagues after the opening of Friday's formal opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Port of Spain for a one-on-one meeting with FIFA vice president Jack Warner.The two met at the British High Commission in St Clair at Brown's request. Britain has been lobbying to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 but Warner recently suggested that the authorities were dragging their feet on pursuing that goal.
Brown's intervention is seen as an attempt to give England a fighting chance against two other strong contenders, the United States and Australia.
Earlier this year, Warner and FIFA President Sepp Blatter met at the White House with President Barack Obama to discuss football and the possibilities of America hosting the 2018 tournament.
Local media reports quote Brown as saying England has "invested heavily in our facilities".
He added, "We are keen because 1966 was the last time we had the World Cup, and 50 years later, in 2018, we have a chance of having the World Cup. We know we are up against very worthy opponents. But 50 years later, with all these facilities, we are determined to have the World Cup again."
The reports say Brown told Warner his government is ready to underwrite the event.
"We intend to make the event so secure...We know there is a long way before a decision is made, but we want to be ready, we are very keen to be supportive, including financing the event."
Warner heads to Nigeria Sunday for the Fifa 2010 World Cup draw in South Africa, and is expected to meet on Tuesday with former England captain, David Beckham, in South Africa. Beckham is seen as an inspiration to youth generally, especially those involved in sports.
A spokesman for Brown said, "The prime minister re-emphasised his personal passion and the nation's passion for football and sport more generally and underlined the government's commitment to sport, saying that sports in schools would be going from two hours a week at present to five hours a week in 2012."
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Warner also had ameeting Friday with the other Commonwealth contender for the 2018 FIFA tournament. The discussions with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took place at the residence of the Australian Ambassador in Cascade.
Media reports quote Rudd as telling Warner, "We have a strong bid and it will only get stronger."
Warner has commended Rudd on his commitment to the 2018 bid and told the international media Australia has a "good chance" of wining the bid.
FIFA's decision for the tournament is a long way off; an announcement is not expected until December next year.
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