Host cities and Prime Ministers present Bid Book to The HollandBelgium Bid
Antwerp, 6 May 2010. – This afternoon, at a festive meeting in the Antwerp city hall, the Prime Ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, Leterme and Balkenende, symbolically compiled and presented the Bid Book of The HollandBelgium Bid for the 2018-2022 FIFA World Cup™ to the organisation of The HollandBelgium Bid. On Friday 14 May, the Bid Book will be presented to FIFA in Zürich. The meeting in Antwerp was the final stage of The HollandBelgium Bid’s Twelve City Tour, which started on 29 April in Genk and Heerenveen.
The HollandBelgium Bid brought together the chapters of the Bid Book in an original and sustainable way. On 29 April, groups of supporters cycled and sailed from Genk and Heerenveen to the next host city carrying a chapter of the Bid book. By train, bicycle and boat, every bidding host city thus figuratively presented a chapter of the Bid Book.
On 6 May, the Mayor of Antwerp, Patrick Janssens, received the collected chapters from the delegations of Eindhoven and Ghent and added the last chapter. Antwerp’s Mayor then gave the collected chapters in city hall to the Belgian and Dutch Prime Ministers, Leterme and Balkenende. They compiled the elements of the Bid Book into one book and presented it to Paul van Himst, ambassador of The HollandBelgium Bid. He is a member of the delegation that will present the Bid Book to FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter on 14 May in Zürich.
Paul van Himst was pleasantly surprised by the cities’ enthusiasm for The Bid: “Every city has tried to be sustainable and original. This not only resulted in pretty pictures. A bicycle tour of 180 kilometres in one day, from Enschede to Amsterdam on 1 May, is also a great sporting feat, as was today’s bicycle tour from Ghent to Antwerp. This underlines our Bid’s green character. And this makes us unique.”
The HollandBelgium Bid brought together the chapters of the Bid Book in an original and sustainable way. On 29 April, groups of supporters cycled and sailed from Genk and Heerenveen to the next host city carrying a chapter of the Bid book. By train, bicycle and boat, every bidding host city thus figuratively presented a chapter of the Bid Book.
On 6 May, the Mayor of Antwerp, Patrick Janssens, received the collected chapters from the delegations of Eindhoven and Ghent and added the last chapter. Antwerp’s Mayor then gave the collected chapters in city hall to the Belgian and Dutch Prime Ministers, Leterme and Balkenende. They compiled the elements of the Bid Book into one book and presented it to Paul van Himst, ambassador of The HollandBelgium Bid. He is a member of the delegation that will present the Bid Book to FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter on 14 May in Zürich.
Paul van Himst was pleasantly surprised by the cities’ enthusiasm for The Bid: “Every city has tried to be sustainable and original. This not only resulted in pretty pictures. A bicycle tour of 180 kilometres in one day, from Enschede to Amsterdam on 1 May, is also a great sporting feat, as was today’s bicycle tour from Ghent to Antwerp. This underlines our Bid’s green character. And this makes us unique.”