SIS LIVE Backs the Bid for England 2018 FIFA World Cup

David Meynell, Managing Director, SIS LIVE, says: “SIS LIVE is proud to be an official part of England’s campaign to win the right to stage the 2018 FIFA World Cup. A World Cup in England would be a fantastic experience for fans at home and abroad if we won the right to stage the tournament.”

England 2018 Chief Executive, Andy Anson says: “SIS LIVE has experience covering top-flight football and providing the technical facilities for major sporting events. We are delighted they stepped forward to offer their expertise during the development of our bid strategy.”

SIS LIVE has over 70 years of BBC outside broadcast experience and works with all the major UK and international broadcasters at the highest level across many sports, including a huge variety of national and international football competitions. The company has extensive experience covering the Barclays Premier League, the FA Cup, UEFA Europa Cup, UEFA Champions League and previous FIFA World Cups.

SIS LIVE has an on-going investment programme to ensure all its facilities incorporate the latest High Definition and 3D broadcast equipment, and will continue to invest in state-of-the-art equipment up to and beyond the 2018 World Cup.

SIS LIVE crews and project managers also offer vast experience across football production, have well-developed relationships with the FA and all the UK clubs, and are very familiar with most UK and many international football venues. The company has an excellent international reputation for providing host broadcast facilities for football events and other major sporting events. In 2010, SIS LIVE is providing the technical facilities and production coverage of the XIX Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.

SIS LIVE can also offer a wide range of additional services to help ensure that its football coverage continues to achieve the highest production standards. The company’s award-winning special cameras division has designed, built and operated many innovative new camera systems and angles, from goalpost cameras, to overhead 3D camera systems, to the latest RF communications.

The England Bid for the FIFA World Cup 2010

On 31 October 2007, The Football Association officially announced that it will bid to host the event. On 24 April 2008 England finalised a 63-page bid to host the 2018 World Cup, focusing on the development of football worldwide. On 27 January 2009, England officially submitted their bid to FIFA. Richard Caborn will lead England's bid to stage the 2018 World Cup after stepping down as Sports Minister. On 24 October 2008 the Football Association named the Executive Board to prepare the bid, with David Triesman as the bid chairman. Triesman resigned on 16 May 2010 after comments were published where he suggested that Spain would drop their bid if Russia helped bribe referees in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The British government is backing the England 2018 bid. In November 2005, then-Chancellor Gordon Brown and Sport Minister Tessa Jowell first announced that they were to investigate the possibility of bidding. That month, Adrian Bevington, the Football Association's Director of Communications, announced the support of the Government and the Treasury in the bid, but put off definite proposals. Brown reiterated his support for a bid in March 2006, before England's 2006 World Cup campaign, and again in May 2006. The UK government launched its official report on 12 February 2007, in which it was made clear that its support was for an England-only bid and that all games would be played at English grounds. The venues selected on 16 December 2009 to form the bid were: London (three stadia), Manchester (two stadia), Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield and Sunderland.

FIFA Officials have also expressed interest in an English bid. David Will, a vice-president of FIFA, noted England's World Cup proposal as early as May 2004. Franz Beckenbauer, leader of Germany's successful bid for the 2006 World Cup and a member of FIFA's Executive Committee, has twice publicly backed an English bid to host the World Cup, in January and July 2007. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said he would welcome a 2018 bid from "the homeland of football." Blatter met Gordon Brown on 24 October 2007 to discuss the bid while paying a visit to England. England has previously hosted the 1966 World Cup which it won and Euro '96, as well as previously bidding for the 2006 World Cup. Should England succeed, it would be the sixth nation to host the World Cup for a second time.

About SIS

SIS is one of the world’s leading companies in the television broadcasting industry. It is the foremost supplier of television programming and data services to the UK and Ireland betting industry. The company’s broadcast business, SIS LIVE, has the largest satellite uplink fleet in Europe and is the largest outside broadcast provider in the UK. It offers a complete broadcasting solution from onsite outside broadcast facilities through to global distribution and IP provision. The company covers 100,000 hours of live events worldwide each year, including Formula One, The Wimbledon Championships, UEFA Champions League football and European Tour Golf, and delivers approximately 80% of live news feeds across the UK.