President Barack Obama is not only a sports fan, but a big soccer fan _ an avowed West Ham supporter. The bigwigs in the U.S. Soccer Federation are convinced him winning the Presidential election can help them win their World Cup bid, as well. They believe President Obama being in the White House could help convince FIFA to award the U.S. either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

“Given everything that, frankly, President Obama has said _ everything he stands for, everything he’s talked about in terms of reaching out to the world _ that trying to bring the global game to the United States and opening our borders up for a festival of 32 countries and hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the world would be viewed in a very positive way,” USSF president Sunil Gulati said on a conference call.

Monday.

“What happened over the last several months and what happened two weeks ago in Washington has dramatically changed the view of United States and its leadership around the world. It would be impossible to think anything different. And for those of us who travel around the world quite a bit, that is noticeable, it’s audible and it’s visible. So that clearly is a positive for frankly, for Chicago bidding for the Olympics and for any effort to bring the World Cup back here.”

Today was FIFA’s deadline for initial bids, and the U.S. will be up against the likes of England, Russian, Mexico and Japan. They’ll also be vying with combined bids from Netherlands-Beligium-Luxembourg, and Spain-Portugal from Europe, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he doesn’t like combined bids.

Next year’s World Cup will be in South Africa, and the 2014 tournament will be in Brazil. The next Summer Olympics will be in England. But since the next two World Cups won’t be in Europe _ and eight of the 24 voters are from the Old Continent _ England and Spain are likely favorites for 2018.

What do you think? Your own personal politics aside, do you think President Obama’s presence will help the U.S. bid? Check in…