Netherlands wants FIFA to pay up after failed World Cup bid

The Netherlands wants FIFA to return the the country spent in an effort to win the bid for the World Cup 2018 to be in the Netherlands and Belgium, should it turn out that there was deception in the process. Minister Edith Schippers of Sport supports Dutch football association KNVB's position to recover the money, she said on Wednesday, ANP reports.

In recent interview former FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that the Dutch-Belgian bid never stood a chance, because FIFA already decided that the World Cup will never again be held in two countries. If this is indeed the case, the Netherlands was misled and the money spent on the bid should be returned, Schippers said.

The Netherlands and Belgium put in a joint bid for the World Cup 2018, spending a total of almost 11 million euros on the campaign. The Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports gave the KNVB a several million euro grant for this purpose.

KNVB president Michael van Praag said on Sunday that Blatter deceived them and that he will work with Belgium to get the invested money back. Should the various investigations into the matter show that there was indeed deceit, Schippers will support him.