The USA Bid Committee announced yesterday that it will include Seattle as one of the 18 host cities that it will submit to FIFA as part of the United States bid to host the FIFA World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.  There are two Seattle-area stadiums under consideration as locations to play in should Seattle be chosen as a host city — Qwest Field (67,000) and Husky Stadium (72,500) — and the USA Bid Committee will make a choice between the two by May 2010.

FIFA will award the host nation for both 2018 and 2022 in December 2010.  If the United States is chosen as a host country, FIFA and the USA Bid Committee will then select between 10 and 12 host cities to be featured as World Cup venues.

The FIFA World Cup championship is awarded every four years.  The tournament consists of 64 matches, with 32 teams competing for the title over a period of about a month in June and July.  The games are played in 10 to 14 venues, with most venues used for a two- to three-week period.  The World Cup is one of the most widely viewed sporting events in the world and the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ held in the U.S. reported approximately $4 billion in economic impact.

Click here to support Seattle’s bid to host the World Cup, or sign the petition below.