World Cup fans to stay afloat
by Julian Guyer
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
LONDON, England (AFP): Floating hotels are
set to help countries in the West Indies cope with the massive influx of
cricket followers expected during the 2007 World Cup.
West Indies will be hosting the ninth edition of cricket's showpiece one-day
tournament for the first time despite fears that some Caribbean countries'
already hard-pressed tourist infrastructure would struggle with the demands of
a World Cup. But West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)
president Teddy Griffith, announcing the eight World Cup venues at a London
hotel opposite Lord's Cricket Ground here Monday, said ships could help take
the strain. "There is the possibility, maybe
the probability, of using some floating hotels."
And he added that this did not mean that cricket fans, already facing an
expensive trip, would have to spend lavish amounts of money booking into giant
cruise ships. "At the start of this, lots of
people thought that if you were talking about floating hotels, you needed to
be thinking of the mega-ships. "But all the
information we now have that there is an adequacy of the smaller and more
economic situations in the 6-800 room range rather than the thousands of room
range." The eight venues were chosen from a
total of 12 bids with seven of the successful candidates Antigua, Barbados,
Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and Trinidad all islands while
the other, Guyana, is a South American country with an extensive coastline.
Among the losing bidders was the United States, which wanted to stage World
Cup matches in Florida. The country has long
been targeted as an expansion area by cricket chiefs and in September a team
from the United States will feature in the Champions Trophy one-day event, a
'mini World Cup', in England. But
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani, speaking on the same
platform as Griffith, said: "From a development point of view, the US had
attractions but the decision was based on strict criteria."
Mani admitted that security and visa concerns had counted against the United
States but said it would still be considered for warm-up games.
And Griffith stressed: "It (the World Cup) will be a Caribbean event with a
distinctive Caribbean flavour." The other
unsuccessful bids came from St Vincent and the Grenadines, a second stadium in
Jamaica, and Bermuda although the latter has been given 'standby' status in
the event of problems elsewhere. Six World
Cup sites will be upgraded while Antigua and Guyana will both have new,
purpose-built, grounds. The average capacity will be 20,000.
Although the West Indies - who won the first
two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 - are a longstanding force in top class
cricket, economic conditions in the Caribbean have seen them struggle to keep
pace financially. However, Mani predicted a
World Cup windfall for the West Indies who will get 46 percent of the
tournament's gross revenues, and benefit by approximately 100 million dollars.
The 2007 World Cup will feature 16 teams, the most in the competition's
history, who between them will play 51 matches.
Last year's World Cup, in South Africa, was widely criticised for being too
long at 43 days and the 2007 event is set to be of similar duration.
By contrast, this August's Athens Olympic Games will last 16 days.
But organisers point out the creation of four first-round groups of four
rather than two of seven has helped reduce by three the number of matches.
A fixture schedule is due to be announced in Jamaica on July 13.
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