George Cohen, who won the World Cup with England in 1966 (and whose nephew Ben Cohen won the Rugby World Cup with England in 2003), says that England should boycott the next tournament in 2018:
Fifa corruption: World Cup 1966 winner George Cohen says England should boycott tournament
The 75-year-old says it would be a huge shame but the team could not carry on regardless in light of corruption scandal
George Cohen (left) and captain Bobby Moore after England won the World Cup in 1966 Photo: GETTY
By George Cohen
29 May 2015
The Telegraph
77 Comments
I agree with the boycott but it would be the most terrible shame. The European Cup is good, Uefa is good but at the same time, you have to embrace everyone in this or it’s not a World Cup.
Now and then: George Cohen
A lot of countries will say we can’t play under these circumstances and I agree with them. I would be very, very surprised if England say yes, we’ll carry on irrespective of what’s happened in the past. That’s not us.
I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that. It’s terrific competition and a lot of good comes from it. Everybody makes a lot of money, a lot of charities make a great deal of money but you just cannot make bad money and
this is bad money, it’s not good.
I think that England will say no, we can’t play under these circumstances.
England manager Alf Ramsey prevents George Cohen swapping his shirt with an Argentinian player after a bad tempered 1966 World Cup quarter final, which England won 1-0 (GETTY)
If Sepp Blatter does get another term, I think the sponsors will say, we can’t have this. It’s so very big, they cannot afford to have a bad image or be seen to be supporting one.
Blatter should step down. He’s in a position now where he’s trying to save everybody’s skin. He’s a past master at doing that himself - he’s been doing it for 17 years.
He’s trying to save his own skin but he’s going to have to face an inquisition sooner or later. How can he not know, after all this time in office, that there is corruption? That is absurd.
He has his finger on the pulse of everything that has gone on in the last 17 years.
If he didn’t know, he should have done.
Whoever advised Prince William (who had a private audience with Jack Warner) should be a little bit ashamed.
There are a lot of them (at Fifa) diving for cover. I’m sure they feel that they have to keep Blatter in order to save themselves because otherwise they are out on their own and I don’t believe they are good enough to save their own skins on their own.
It looks like they are all going to vote for him. They are his men, they have been for a long time. While he’s there, they probably feel somewhat protective but it only takes one or two to break ranks for it all to dissolve.
Blatter has been passing over these allegations within Fifa but I don’t believe the Americans are going to let him go on this.
As for the players, it robs them of some sort of status. In as much as we won the Cup in ’66 it gave all those players a different status, it changed our lives a great deal, the kudos is fantastic. We really felt we had achieved something.
To be robbed of that, to say we are only going to play against half the world, seems unfair but you cannot go on with the situation as it is and just ignore the fact that
bribery and corruption is going on.
What happens in the middle of a competition if someone gets arrested? It’s unlikely in Russia no doubt and also in Qatar, but it’s very, very serious.
If they elect (Blatter) again I think Michel Platini will pull Uefa out. It would be a shame and it will be the last thing he wants to do. He may not see any other way out.
Let’s hope they can do something before the next World Cup.
It would be the biggest disappointment. It’s a fantastic event and gives the nation that wins it a real fillip. Lots of people are going to lose out here.
George Cohen was talking to Victoria Ward
Fifa corruption: World Cup 1966 winner George Cohen says England should boycott tournament - Telegraph
