Whether he stays for England’s World Cup qualifier against Andorra at Wembley that evening remains to be seen.

 

Of course, the visit has nothing to do with England’s current 2018/22 World Cup bid – although I gather that Richard Caborn, the Prime Minister’s hard-working World Cup ambassador, has been instrumental in preparations and, plainly, any positive experience Blatter has of England in the run-up to next year’s decisive vote can do no harm.

 

I attended last Monday’s official bid launch at a blustery Wembley along with Brown, assorted football dignitaries and, it subsequently turned out, a BNP politician.

 

Neither the event nor the gaffe made quite the media impact that might have been anticipated because of Britain’s ongoing political drama over MPs’ expenses.

 

But the day left me with mixed impressions; three things, I think, are worth singling out.

 

Prince William, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Sir Geoff Hurst, the spirit of Bobby Moore, Lord Coe, not to mention business leaders such as Sir Martin Sorrell and Sir Keith Mills: Monday’s event brought home what a lot of Big Guns England can wheel out.

 

Though the most important work will be done in the archetypical smoke-filled rooms, the sheer firepower of such a line-up, if targeted correctly, could be the bid’s most important asset.

 

It is also worth pointing out that England is the only former World Cup winner among the bidders, the others being Australia, Belgium/Netherlands, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, Spain/Portugal and the United States.

 

 

Second: I’m not so sure about that slogan. (“England united – the world invited”, for those who may have missed it).

 

In campaigns, there is a temptation for people to highlight the things that they want to be true, rather than those that demonstrably are true.

 

I would say the “England united” bit risks falling into that category.

 

I’m prepared to concede that every power-broker in the English game probably wants the World Cup to come here.

 

But, for all the talk of a “coming together”, I’m still not persuaded that the unity goes any deeper than that.

 

Indeed, you could argue that the slogan is doing England’s opponents’ job for them by focusing attention on what some see as a potential weakness.

 

Why wouldn’t a World Cup bidder be united for goodness sake?

 

This should go, literally, without saying.

 

It scarcely seems worth trumpeting to the world as if it were a major development – even though it would be.

 

And while I imagine “united” is also intended at some level to tap into the undying club allegiance that is one of the more appealing parts of English football culture, I think the wisdom of the choice of words is questionable on that score too.

 

I’m not sure Liverpudlians, for example, would find it that inspiring - or the blue halves of Manchester and Sheffield.

 

Self-deprecating campaign

 

Finally, I slightly worry whether the bid team’s understandable preoccupation with not appearing arrogant, or implying that England’s status as the cradle of the game in any way entitles it to another World Cup, is going to get in the way of making the most convincing case possible for winning the right to stage the tournament.

 

It could be that England’s reputation in international football circles is such that we have to bend over backwards to make the point.

 

But there were one or two moments on Monday – for example an image of the watching Beckham being red-carded - when I felt I was set to witness a genuinely startling marketing innovation: the self-deprecating campaign.

 

Thankfully the campaign slogan will have no bearing whatsoever on how the 24 FIFA Executive Committee members who constitute the electorate in this contest actually vote.

 

The campaign’s tone will make precious little difference either - although of course any perceived shortcomings will be put up in lights in the post mortem should the bid fail.

 

When push comes to shove, I’m pretty confident that FIFA decision-makers will by and large vote in line with what best suits their own and their Confederations’ agendas, no matter how wonderful our stadiums or posh our blazers.

 

Of course, their perception of what does best suit these agendas is subject to change right up until the very last moment and will, in any case, be adjusted as the field thins down.

 

In some cases, it might even be affected by external factors such as the 2011 FIFA Presidential election, which will be the next Big Thing once the World Cup venues are settled in December 2010.

 

I just hope that, while the England 2018 team was mapping out every last detail of Monday’s presentation, somebody was keeping an equally studious eye on events at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur at which Mohamed Bin Hammam, the AFC President, narrowly retained his seat on FIFA’s Exco.

 

From what I gather, this election was pretty much a textbook case of how important decisions in world football tend to be taken.

 

Understanding this will ultimately do far more for England’s chances than minding our Ps and Qs on the campaign trail.

 

D-day delayed for boxing in 2012

 

● It looks more and more as though women’s boxing is going to make it onto the Olympic programme at London 2012.

 

But we still don’t know precisely where they will be competing.

 

Following a recent fact-finding mission by an International Boxing Association (AIBA) evaluation committee, I understand that considerable reservations remain about switching the sport to Wembley Arena from the Games’ East London epicentre.

 

The switch would help Games organisers to save about £20 million by not building a planned temporary venue.

 

AIBA is likely to announce its verdict by the end of next month.

 

Meanwhile, I understand too that consideration is being given to staging the Olympic competition’s initial weigh-in and draw – potentially a big set-piece event, especially if female competitors are there – at a truly iconic London building such as the Tate Modern on the banks of the Thames at Southwark.

 

According to one idea, the event could feature an exhibition of boxing memorabilia, such as the original ABA rules and other artefacts from as early as the 19th century.

 

With the competition shaping up to be one of the highlights of the Games, such a curtain-raiser would help to ensure that public and media interest was strong – wherever the actual bouts end up being fought.

 

David Owen is a specialist sports journalist who worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering last year's Beijing Olympics. An archive of Owen’s material may be found by Twitter users at www.twitter.com/dodo938.