The English FA is to try and form a "coalition of the good guys" with the FAs of the USA and Australia in the wake of Thursday's FIFA 2018 and 2022 World Cups vote scandal.
That decision will be confirmed next week, with the next stage seeing the major surgery to the international development programme which has seen the FA ploughing millions of pounds and countless hours into improving coaching and facilities in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean fiefdom of Trinidadian turncoat-in-chief Jack Warner.
Issa Hayatou's Africa will be spared, but the others will suffer.
There have even been calls for England to quit FIFA, and World Cups, altogether until the organisation gets its act together.
Political fallout begins as FA chief quits over 'lying' FIFA and England scrap Thai friendly
Why is that hard to believe?
By Terry Butcher
05/12/10
The Mirror
And I’m angry that certain clowns like Ian Wright blame our investigative journalists for losing the bid, when the very corruption they exposed was part of the reason it never stood a chance.
You could back that up by asking when you last saw an international that came close to the one we saw on Monday between Barcelona and Real Madrid. I would be very happy if I never had to watch another FIFA tournament.
Let’s not play the wounded victim because it really isn’t worth it. Instead, let’s accept that football isn’t coming home.
mirror.co.uk
Despite England (bidding to host the 2018 World Cup), the USA and Australia (both bidding for the 2022 World Cup) all having the best bids, the three nations got just six votes between them. Out of a maximum of 22 votes, Australia got 1, England 2 and the USA 3.
And the world was left surprised when Russia won the bid for the 2018 tournament and tiny Qatar, whose national team has never even played in a World Cup, won the right to host the 2022 World Cup.
As well as the English, the Americans and Australians are also angry at the way the voting went. A member of Australia's 2022 World Cup bid team was asked why he thinks Qatar won the bid, and he said: "Money."
It may be no coincidence that FIFA decided to host those two World Cups in countries which are awash with oil money. And there are rumours that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and maybe millionaire Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, who owns English champions Chelsea, may have spoken to FIFA president Sepp Blatter behind the scenes and offered millions of roubles to buy the 2018 tournament for Russia.
If that's the case, the whole voting process for the 2018 tournament may have been a complete sham, with FIFA already deciding that Russia will host the bid.
It has also been said that England's bid was doomed when the English media - most notably The Sunday Times and the BBC - made allegations of bribery against FIFA and that England only getting two votes was revenge on FIFA's part. The BBC aired an episode of Panorama on Tuesday night, just two days before the winning bid was announced, accusing several FIFA members of corruption, and four of the 22 who voted on Thursday were those against which allegations were made.
Although if it is the case that FIFA did not award the 2018 World Cup to England, despite having the best bid, just to get revenge on the country for the allegations against FIFA of bribery, the irony is that Thursday's decision to award the World Cup to oil rich Russia rather than the country with the best bid just proves that FIFA are corrupt anyway.
It may also simply be that FIFA's renowned anti-Englishness also scuppered England's bid, with FIFA jealous of the success, power and wealth of the English game.
FIFA members also lied to the England bid's "Three Lions" of PM David Cameron, David Beckham, and Prince William on Thursday. Hours before voting took place, the three met several of those FIFA members who voted to try and secure votes for the England. Seven of them told Cameron, William and Beckham that they will vote for the England bid, including the president of CONCACAF, North America's football association, Jack Warner, the USA delegate Chuck Blazer and a Guatemalan delegate.
Warner actually put his arms around the Prince and said that he will vote for the England bid. But, with England only getting two votes, and one of them coming from the English FIFA guy, Geoff Thompson, it's obvious that Beckham, William and Cameron were lied to.
It's thought that England's only other vote came from Issa Hayatou, the Cameroon delegate who, despite being one of those who the BBC made corruption allegations against, wanted to reward England as it supported his bid for the FA Presidency back in 2002 (which was won by Sepp Blatter).
Trying to build a coalition of the good guys against FIFA is not the only anti-FIFA ploy that the English are now conducting. Roger Burden, who was the chairmen-elect of the English FA, has now withdrew his candidacy for the full-time job saying that he does not trust FIFA executives.
Also, England's June friendly against Thailand in Bangkok is to be scrapped, with England boss Fabio Capello in full agreement with the decision to scrap the game after Thailand’s Worawi Makudi voted for the Spain/Portugal bid.
That decision will be confirmed next week, with the next stage seeing the major surgery to the international development programme which has seen the FA ploughing millions of pounds and countless hours into improving coaching and facilities in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean fiefdom of Trinidadian turncoat-in-chief Jack Warner.
Issa Hayatou's Africa will be spared, but the others will suffer.
There have even been calls for England to quit FIFA, and World Cups, altogether until the organisation gets its act together.
Political fallout begins as FA chief quits over 'lying' FIFA and England scrap Thai friendly
The Football Association was left leaderless last night as chairman-elect Roger Burden withdrew his candidacy in protest at FIFA’s World Cup vote double-dealing.
Burden, the former head of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society, was set to be named the full-time successor to Lord Triesman as chairman later this month but says he cannot work with lying FIFA executives.
The fall-out of the failed 2018 bid had already begun with England pulling the plug on June’s friendly in Thailand, as they prepare to substantially scale back their international goodwill commitments and try to form a “coalition of the good guys” in world football.
And Burden made his shock quit announcement in an open letter to FA Board members, saying: “I am struggling to understand how we only achieved two votes. It is difficult to believe that the voting was an objective process.
“Prince William, the Prime Minister and other members of our delegation were promised votes that did not materialise.
“I had applied for the position of chairman. I recognise that an important part of the role is liaison with FIFA, our global governing body.
But I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust.”
Why is that hard to believe?
Burden’s decision - which may see a clamour for former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein to be given the role - came as the FA plotted its own revenge on the FIFA Executive Committee members who made a mockery of their own process by voting for Russia in 2018 and Qatar four years later.
The first casualty is the June date in Bangkok, with England boss Fabio Capello in full agreement with the decision to scrap the game after Thailand’s Worawi Makudi voted for the Spain/Portugal bid.
That decision will be confirmed next week, with the next stage seeing the major surgery to the international development programme which has seen the FA ploughing millions of pounds and countless hours into improving coaching and facilities in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean fiefdom of Trinidadian turncoat-in-chief Jack Warner.
Africa will be spared the axe after Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, head of African football, honoured his pledge but planned projects in other areas will be ditched and the money spent on grassroots projects at home.
And FA general secretary Alex Horne will also begin a round of negotiations with some of the other candidates left angered by the bidding process to attempt to create a new “clean hands” bloc within FIFA.
England, Australia and the USA, the three highest-ranked technical bids across the two bid periods, gained just six first round votes between them and an FA insider said: “We need to see if there is a common point of view to see where we can change things in football. That means contacting other parties across FIFA to discuss all the issues that have to be addressed.”
Meanwhile, the sheer scale of the duplicity and underhand dealing that destroyed England’s World Cup dream became apparent last night as it emerged that SEVEN members of FIFA Executive Committee had pledged their support only to turn their backs at the last minute.
And with England believing they had been killed stone dead by a series of last minute phone calls direct from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, fingers were also being pointed at FIFA chief Sepp Blatter for demanding support for the winning bid.
In two separate meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William, controversial CONCACAF chief Warner had pledged his support, and three crucial votes, for the England bid.
Warner even hugged the Prince before whispering in his ear that his vote was guaranteed and with it also the votes of Amertica’s Chuck Blazer and Guatemala’s Rafael Salgeuro.
Korea’s Dr Chung Mong Joon, Marios Lefkaritis of Cyprus, Turkey’s Senes Erzik and Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast also promised Cameron, the Prince or former FA chairman Geoff Thompson of their support.
But in a staggering breach of trust and integrity, all abandoned England, leaving the bid with the lone support of Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou in addition to Thompson.
It was sports politics at its most brutal. Chung, a member of the Hyundai dynasty, has high-scale links to government and the pay-back was for Russia to intervene, through China, in the current military dispute between North and South Korea.
Erzik denied outright to Thompson, just before the vote, that soundings from the British embassy in Ankara of his desertion were accurate, making things worse in the aftermath as he whispered: “It’s not personal, Geoff, it’s business.”
As for the others, suspicions are obvious, with petro-dollars behind both Russia and 2022 winners Qatar.
All were outrageous acts of deceit, made worse by the embarrassment it caused Thompson, left mortified and heartbroken by the breaches of trust.
Asked if all the work and lobbying had been a total waste of time, Anson condemned UEFA President Michel Platini, understood to have switched to Russia in round two and voted for Qatar from the off in the 2022 decision as he said: “It’s hard not to feel that.
“There were votes within Europe we felt we would have had or should have had, by people who say they love football and they want to see a fantastic football-based World Cup.
“To see that wasn’t on the agenda is tough and it does question whether we should have gone through the whole process. There’s a lot of bidders asking that question.
“The technical process is a waste of time. The bid books and the evaluation count for absolutely nothing. They don’t really care about that bit of the process.
“Unless the whole process changes dramatically, I can’t see us getting the World Cup in my lifetime. I think the next one will be in Antartica, in heated stadiums! A fan-free World Cup.”
FIFALeaks! What Septic Bladder might have said to his cronies during 2018 World Cup bid process
By Terry Butcher
05/12/10
The Mirror
Here’s my tongue-in-cheek take of what leaked memos from the FIFA HQ might look like.
Selected memos from WikiFIFALeaks
OCT 31 2007: From Septic Bladder to FIFA Executive members.
Beware brothers, the English are going to try and secure the World Cup in 2018 – that cannot be allowed to happen.
MAY 1 2010: Septic here – great news! Lord Triesman has resigned and dear old Geoff Thompson has stepped into the breach – what a mess the English are in!
OCT 17 2010: The Bladder Man here – well, that article in the Sunday Times has put the tin lid on it. England will get 2018 over my dead body.
NOV 30 2010: Grand Master Bladder calling. Watch out for a dangerous BBC reporter called Andrew Jennings (he looks like a demented Michael Winner). They think they can break us but not the Brotherhood!
DEC 1 2010: From Septicaemia: Promise the English anything but don’t let on that Russia has already won. Try and obtain;
1. Beckham’s autograph and Victoria’s phone number.
2. An invitation to the Royal Wedding
3. An English peerage.
DEC 2 2010: Septic here – did you see the England team’s faces! Revenge is mine!
Why England is better off outside of FIFA's thiefdom
Brian Reade
03/12/10
The Mirror
England lost the 2018 bid because we didn't join in with FIFA's corruption 03/12/10
The Mirror
I don't know about you, but I’m still gurgling Domestos to get the taste of Zurich out of my mouth.
I’m still feeling soiled that our Prime Minister lay prostrate before bent dictators telling them that football meant more to our nation than life itself, while back home his ministers were slashing school sports funding.
I’m trying to comprehend how we sent a future king to lick the backsides of men like Jack Warner, Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter, who harbour more anti-English hatred than the Real IRA.
I’m bemused that Team England are playing the victim by saying their bid “ticked every box” without admitting what they knew before a penny of their £15million was wasted.
That with FIFA you don’t tick boxes, you put brown envelopes in them.
That with FIFA you don’t tick boxes, you put brown envelopes in them.
And I’m angry that certain clowns like Ian Wright blame our investigative journalists for losing the bid, when the very corruption they exposed was part of the reason it never stood a chance.
It’s time English football forget about the World Cup because it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to our game.
For nearly half-a-century that 1966 mirage has led us to falsely believe our national team was a world footballing giant and it has sat on our players’ shoulders like a ton of fool’s gold.
As someone who has hated everything about international football for years, the Zurich stitch-up only strengthens my loathing.
The pointless friendlies that send players home crocked, the plastic atmospheres and xenophobic fans.
The dragged-out qualifiers that give international status to the likes of Liechtenstein so some shady executive can garner a vote, the boring tournaments, the way it interrupts what every real fan is truly bothered about – club football.
It’s not even that good, is it? Sir Alex Ferguson recently pointed out that he hadn’t seen a decent tournament since 1986.
You could back that up by asking when you last saw an international that came close to the one we saw on Monday between Barcelona and Real Madrid. I would be very happy if I never had to watch another FIFA tournament.
If only to see how the grasping, puffed-up egomaniacs who run the fiefdom cope without the kick-backs, the five-star lifestyle and the global fawning.
Let’s not play the wounded victim because it really isn’t worth it. Instead, let’s accept that football isn’t coming home.
It ran away as a callow teenager, made a fortune in dodgy deals, changed its name to FIFA and is now a rich, bloated middle-aged man living in Zurich with a lot of personal security, homes, and mistresses to support.
FIFA’s version of football isn’t coming home. But it will send you a postcard every few years to say how well it’s doing without you.
Rather than worry about it, let’s wash our hands of it in caustic soda and get on with what’s left of the real game.
mirror.co.uk
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