ZURICH: India is among the eight nations bidding to stage the 1998 World Cup soccer finals.
When the deadline for the 1998 World Cup closed on Feb. 11 there were applications from Brazil Chile England France India Morocco Portugal and Switzerland international football federation (FIFA) spokesman Miguel Galan said.
India the only bidder from Asia a continent which has never hosted the World Cup has never qualified and played in only one qualifying tournament in 1986 Reuter reported
Morocco is bidding to become the first African nation to stage the world cup finals. It narrowly missed getting the 1994 World Cup losing by three votes to the United States.
Africa’s progress in international soccer ‘was recognized last month when FIFA awarded the continent a third place in the 24-tcam tournament at the expense of Europe partly on the strength of Cameroon’s reaching the quarter-finals in Italy.
Brazil which also bed for the 1994 finals Chile England France and Switzerland have all previously held the tournament
Article extracted from this publication >> March 1, 1991
