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For City Council World Cup is the Goal

LA could bend it like Beckham in 2018

By Annie Geffroy

| Monday, Nov 30, 2009 | Updated 1:00 PM PST

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Get ready. Soccer fanatics from around the world could be descending on LA for the 2018 World Cup.

The City of Angels may have lost the competition to host the Olympics, but for the City Council an international sporting event is still the goal.

This week the Budget and Finance Committee will motion for a bid to host the FIFA World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.

If the U.S. is chosen as the host country, approximately ten different venues will be selected to actually host matches. FIFA is currently considering 27 U.S. cities.

The last time the World Cup was in Los Angeles was in 1994 at the Rosebowl in Pasadena.

But even if FIFA moves on to greener fields, LA still wants a piece of the action.

Council members would also like to be the host of the International Broadcast Center if the World Cup comes to the U.S. This would mean thousands of reporters, cameras and crewmembers would be in town covering matches across the nation.

Media? In LA? What else is new?

If the World Cup comes to LA, locals will have more to be excited about than the invasion of soccer superstars like David Beckham. The city of Los Angeles would see millions in much needed revenue from the tournament.

The next two World Cup tournaments are set to be South Africa (2010) and Brazil (2014).