US President Barack Obama wrote a letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter supporting the American bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. “As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together,” Obama said, according to excerpts released by the US Soccer Federation on Tuesday. “As a father, I saw that same spirit of unity alive on the fields and sidelines of my own daughters' soccer games in Chicago.” FIFA's executive committee will decide the hosts for both tournaments in December 2010. The United States hosted the World Cup for the first time in 1994, and the 52 games drew records for total attendance (3.59 million) and average (68,991).
