Tottenham make pitch to host World Cup matches as Arsenal delay

24 November 2009 | By Adam Fraser

Tottenham have become the first London club to sign paperwork committing to host matches at the 2018 Fifa World Cup, according to reports.

The club's new stadium will seek to be the London ground that, along with national stadium Wembley, hosts games if England's bid to host the tournament is successful.

London United, responsible for running London's host city bid, submits its paperwork to the bid committee later this week. At present, Tottenham's north London rivals Arsenal are not believed to have signed the necessary paperwork to commit their Emirates Stadium, seen as one of the most state of the art grounds in Europe, as a potential venue.

'Arsenal have yet to sign up to the FA bid because some of the Fifa regulations are so open-ended and Arsenal's plc company want to know exactly what their contractual responsibilities would be before they put pen to paper,' claimed the Daily Mail newspaper earlier this month.

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