Trinidad happy to take back seat in World Cup bids

The deadline for submission of the 2007 World Cup bids passed yesterday evening with two surprises. Firstly, the Trinidad and Tobago government announced that although it had complied with the requirements of the Bid Book, it was submitting itself only as being able and willing to host matches, and would not compete with territorial neighbours.

Patrick Manning, the Prime Minister, said he did not want Trinidad to seem to be grabbing for everything, given its better economic standing in the region. "What T&T did not want to do was to compete against those very countries that support us, as the benefits that could accrue from these matches would be more needed in those countries than in T&T."

Manning added that the government would be willing to host whatever matches were left over after the bids were sorted. The understanding is that the most costly affair, the opening, will be outside the reach of most territories, and will more likely than not end up on Trinidad's door.

Meanwhile, Barbados and St Lucia have submitted a joint bid proposal. Stephen Alleyne, head of Barbados's World Cup programme, said that their joint effort will have "the resources of half a million people" behind them. The driving force behind the St. Lucia committee, Desmond Skeete, died while preparing for the weekend of one-dayers against England at Beausejour Stadium. In all, 12 countries have indicated their intention to bid for matches. The allocations are to be announced on July 12.