LONDON: Less then two months from the deadline for submission of their proposal, the tri-nation North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup has not secured the government guarantees on visa-free travel plus work permit and tax exemptions demanded by FIFA. Bid officials say, however, that they have the support of all three governments for their joint proposal and expect to have the guarantees in place by the March 16 deadline. The U.S wants to host the 2026 tournament in a joint bid with Canada and Mexico, who would also have to commit to the government guarantees for their proposal to be accepted by world soccer’s governing body FIFA. “We will have those (guarantees) in place in time, they are not all done yet,” joint bid chairman Sunil Gulati told reporters on Tuesday. Canadian Victor Montagliani, president of CONCACAF which governs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, said getting the guarantees was not in doubt but was a slow process. “You are not dealing with one person who is going to sign off on all the documents, you are dealing with multiple authorities…they are so many layers you have to deal with,” he said. Morocco is the only other country to have put forward a bid for the finals, which will be the first to feature an expanded 48-team format. FIFA wants a visa-free environment, or at least non-discriminatory visa procedures while the work permit exemptions apply to anyone involved with the World Cup and tax exemptions relate to soccer’s governing body and its subsidiaries. Published in Daily Times, January 24th 2018.