A list of 11 countries bidding to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was revealed by FIFA and Egypt was not mentioned as potential host to either tournament. Reuters have quoted a high FIFA official, confirming on Monday that Egypt is among the bidders to host one of the two prestigious competitions. However, FilGoal.com later quoted Egyptian FA president Samir Zaher as strongly denying any intention of submitting a hosting application to FIFA. On Tuesday, a FIFA spokesman said that the Association were informed of Egypt's interest to host the World Cup, but no official requests were made. "We received two official correspondences, both definitely from the Egyptian FA," the spokesman said. "The first was an expression of interest, but in the second said they were not interested." The eleven countries competing to host the World Cups include England, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, the United States of America, Russia, Mexico and Australia. "It is remarkable that so many high-quality contenders have expressed an initial interest in hosting our flagship competition," commented FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
