England Manager Roy Hodgson visits potential World Cup bases in Brazil.
While the England Men's Senior team has yet to kick a ball in their qualifying campaign, a decision on selecting a base camp for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil has to be made by early August and Manager Roy Hodgson and Club England representatives are currently in South America running the rule over possible locations.
A decision needs to be made so soon as FIFA publish a brochure of hotels and training grounds at the start of August from which all participating nations must select their preferred top three options.
Joining Hodgson on the trip are Club England's Managing Director Adrian Bevington and Director Of Team Operations Michelle Farrer, both of whom have already been to Brazil previously to examine the possible options.
The first stop on the trip was Sao Paulo, where the group were met by former Arsenal and Brazil star Edu to show them around the facilities at Corinthians FC, where he is currently the Sporting Director.
It was then on to Palmeiras FC, where former Chelsea manager Felipe Scolari is Head Coach and was waiting to greet Hodgson, a former neighbour of his from his spell in London.
"This is not England being arrogant, most nations are doing this, but with the Dutch, USA, Japan, Australia, Germany and Belgium, we are one of those nations doing a lot of due diligence in a country that England have not played in since 1984," explained Bevington.
"This is my fourth visit since to Brazil, a huge country, several times larger than South Africa with a population of 200m, with extreme variables in climate and humidity, as we try to identify the best place to base ourselves for the World Cup.
"Prior to this trip with Michelle, our Head Of Security Ray Whitworth, Commercial Director Stuart Turner and Gareth Southgate have at various times, checked out around 20 training grounds and 50 hotels in places including Rio, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Bahia, Santos, Campinas and Florianopolis.
"We have visited facilities at Flamengo, Palmeiras, Sao Paulo FC, Corinthinians, Botafogo, Atletico Minero, Cruzeiro, and Santos FC."
The group are also taking in further facilities in both Belo Horizonte and Rio before returning to England at the weekend.
FATV are also with the group, so there will be video features and interviews from the trip coming soon.