The bid: The vision and the dream

World Cup bids are assessed on the basis of numerous factors: safety; infrastructure; facilities; transportation; and, "of course, the spirit of the country," as many of those in the know will also point out.

Egypt's bid -- which was presented to FIFA last year -- was a whopping 4,476 page document. How the committee in charge of making the decision will read it remains to be seen.

"The decision is made by 24 FIFA members," explains Egypt's Minister of Youth and Sports Alieddin Hilal, the man in charge of the bid. "There are at least 1,500 people working with these 24 members -- the executive committee. They can influence them in some way, but the bottom line is that we have to fully engage the 24."

The minister is impassioned about the bid as well as Egypt's chances of winning it. "It's a tough fight," he begins, his renowned objectivity coming immediately into play. "What, I ask, are Egypt's credentials?"

He begins to list them, as he has done, patiently and consistently, whenever he is asked to. "Population; the potential Egyptian market by 2010 will number 75 million, the largest of all the African nations applying. Safety and stability; the streets, in some of the competing bids, are considered among the most dangerous in the whole world. Despite the war in Iraq, we still got six million tourists last year. We are a healthy country. We have no epidemics or endemic diseases. We have a sophisticated tourism infrastructure. As a people, we have a long-standing tradition of accepting tourism -- it is very much a part of our culture. We have past organisational experience with both sports and non-sports events. We are the most developed in terms of satellite communications -- we are actually the only African country that reaches the Americas, Europe and Asia. Why is that important? Because the main source of income for FIFA from the World Cup comes from broadcasting rights," he says, pausing momentarily.

"And," he continues, pausing again to take a long breath. "Football is the number one game in Egypt. The largest spectator turnout in the history of FIFA was the Under-17 World Cup in Egypt in 1997. It is unmatched by any other nation."

Sahar El-Hawari, the brainchild and energy behind the Egyptian female presence on the global football map, also mentions "the simple fact that the 2006 African Cup of Nations will be hosted in Egypt is testimony to our readiness and ability to host such a historic event."

Hilal expands on this point. "We have the sports facilities. Most of the stadiums are already there, they are just being renovated and upgraded. Work on the stadiums is happening as we speak. The thing is, we are doing this for our country, regardless of whether or not we get 2010. This is for our own national development."

According to Hisham Azmi, Egypt's bid-file coordinator, "Our bid allows for eight cities and eight stadiums. It is a demonstration [of how serious we] will be bidding for 2010."

South Africa has consistently been called Egypt's strongest competitor in the race to host 2010. The controversy over the 2006 World Cup -- which Germany clinched by one vote over South Africa -- remains pungent in the air; the football world unable to let go of the deciding vote which Germany was said to have won by deceit. FIFA's reaction to the unjust result was the vow to bring the World Cup to Africa in 2010. The public and critics alike have since written that FIFA's insinuation is that South Africa will be compensated.

"One has to be objective," Hilal smiles about the issue. "Every country has strengths and weaknesses."

Intangibles often play a huge role, according to Hilal. "1) The population's will -- do we have a strong will in the country? 2) Degree of commitment -- the president's support, the prime minister's support, and support from the political parties, polls, federations, NGOs. 3) Degree of preparation -- was a credible file submitted, and will we be able to deliver. 4) Lobbying -- as much as you express your national will externally, you must also express it internally, and vice versa. 5) We never failed, foiled, or fouled -- if we have a commitment, we fulfil it, but that will be judged, really, by the people who come."

The question, of course, is how likely is it that those people will come.

"I am aware that some people are saying our effort is not enough. But there will always be someone saying that! It is the nature of things that criticism should exist. We are human beings and no one is perfect, but the most important thing is do you have the courage to correct your mistakes within a time frame to achieve your objectives," Hilal says. "We have unconditional support form the government, as well as that of different focal groups including students, syndicates, professional associations and NGOs. Do other countries have similar internal support? No. But then, one of our commitments is not to criticise other candidates. We have to assess everyone's strengths and weaknesses, but criticism gets one nowhere. What we are doing now, is focussing on our goal, and focussing on why Egypt should win, and how it can win, and how we will win."