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England's World Cup Bid Hopes 'Shattered'
3:38pm Thursday November 04, 2010
Alex Watts
England's 2018 World Cup bid has been "significantly damaged" by an undercover newspaper investigation into the voting process.
The Fifa 2018 bid team visit Old Trafford
Sources in the campaign team say the Sunday Times' report has caused an anti-English backlash among Fifa members. Two Fifa executive committee members - Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii - were suspended after claims they asked for money for projects in return for World Cup votes. The pair deny any wrongdoing.
There are also fears that a separate BBC Panorama programme due to be screened before the vote on December 2 could doom England's hopes completely. The admission comes after Mohamed Bin Hammam, one of the 24-man executive committee who will vote on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, condemned the paper's investigation as "unethical".
He said on his website: "Forging identity, fabricating evidence and setting traps are unethical behaviours in my point of view. "How will we clean dirty laundry by using dirty water?"
The Netherlands are hoping to co-host the World Cup
A senior England 2018 source said: "This has significantly damaged England's bid because the Fifa executive committee feel they are being targeted by the English media." The team's strategy in the remaining weeks is to try to persuade Fifa members that they should not be held responsible for Fleet Street's actions. Meanwhile, Russia's 2018 World Cup bid team has denied offering any inducements to secure Mr Adamu's vote.
The Fifa ethics committee is also investigating separate allegations that Qatar's 2022 bid colluded with the Spain/Portugal 2018 bid - something forbidden by regulations. England are competing for the right to host the 2018 tournament with Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium. Australia, Qatar, Japan, South Korea and the US are bidding to host the 2022 World Cup.
