‘U-20 finals can boost Games bid’
LAUSANNE: Turkey’s hosting for the first time of a FIFA competition, the Under-20 World Cup, can help boost its bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.
The Swiss football supremo was speaking after a meeting in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, himself a former professional footballer, about the tournament that runs from June 21 to July 13.
Istanbul, who are making their strongest bid yet to host the Olympics, are competing against Madrid, who finished runners-up for the 2016 Games, and Tokyo, who are the only one of the three contenders to have hosted them, in 1964.
“This is FIFA’s first competition in Turkey and we have very high expectations, but we are confident it will be a great event,” Blatter said in comments posted on the FIFA website.
“I encouraged the Prime Minister that Turkey uses the FIFA U-20 World Cup as an international showcase for Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Olympic Games,” added Blatter, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee
This is FIFA’s first competition in Turkey and we have very high expectations, but we are confident it will be a great event. Sepp Blatter, FIFA president
( IOC).
He and his fellow members will vote on who hosts the 2020 Games in Buenos Aires on Sept 7.—