World Cup inquiry clears Qatar but criticises English FA. please log in to view this image The English Football Association has been accused of flouting bidding rules in its attempt to stage the 2018 World Cup - but 2022 hosts Qatar have been cleared of corruption allegations. A Fifa report says the FA behaved improperly when trying to win the backing of a key voter. Qatar faced a number of claims surrounding its bid, but the Gulf state is now in the clear. In effect, Fifa's long-awaited report ends talk of a re-vote. In a statement, football's world governing body acknowledged the work of the inquiry and thanked those who had co-operated with it. It also welcomed the fact that "a degree of closure has been reached". The news that the FA has come in for criticism is a surprise given that it has repeatedly called for transparency in the voting process and accused Fifa of not doing enough to stamp out corruption. The FA is accused of trying to "curry favour" with former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, who quit his role in 2011 amid bribery allegations. Individuals involved in England's bid could now face action following the conclusion of the two-year inquiry, which was led by American lawyer Michael Garcia. Fifa's report, which also looks at the conduct of other bidding nations for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, makes a number of damaging points about the conduct of England bid officials. In particular, it says England's bid team tried to win the support of Warner, who is from Trinidad & Tobago, by: â¢Trying to help "a person of interest to him" find a part time job in the United Kingdom â¢Letting the Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 squad hold a training camp in the UK in the summer of 2009 â¢Sponsoring a gala dinner for the Caribbean Football Union, at a cost of $55,000, around £35,000 In the 42-page report, Hans Joachim Eckert, Fifa's independent ethics adjudicator, writes that England's bid team "showed a willingness, time and again" to meet Warner's expectations. By doing so, it damaged "the image of Fifa and the bidding process". The inquiry looked at the conduct of all nine bidding teams who were trying to win the right to stage either the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. It was initiated after a number of corruption allegations were made once voting had taken place in 2010. Please read full report.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30031405
Now isn't that a big surprise? Slag off England and make Russia and Qatar look like shining white nights! Absolute TOSH!
Fifa = corruption We invented the game but are being deliberately targeted to try and shun us down levels massively. I'm not saying that we should have all the power but we need our fair share.
The FA should take the high road on this, quickly eliminate those that were involved in any wrongdoing and then say to FIFA "we've fixed the issues, now release the rest of the document".
What it wasn't a part time job? It was a full time KFC employment. Everyone knows what fat Blatter wants he gets, he don't opposed in his dictatorship fully. He's a walking disaster to the sport.
Perhaps I should stand for his position. Lol England should send a team of semi pros who would die for the shirt off to the 2022 world cup in protest. We should not disrupt the normal football season for the World Cup And we should hold our own tournament in the summer in England and invite teams such as Wales, France and the USA along to stop a dull football less summer.
FIFA need to be badgered to release the full contents of the report - our press have a job to do here on our behalf
Perhaps the press should look into why England played Trinidad and Tobago in 2008? A money spinning friendly v a FA ran by a man who banned players from representing Trinidad and Tobago for complaining they got less than £500 for playing at a world cup.
Obviously the friendly was an attempt to curry favour with an influential person on the FIFA Executive committee - no-one realised at the time how corrupt he was? However I do take your point (because 99.9% of England fans would not pick them as opponents).
Of course the FA knew how corrupt he was as he had already been fined for selling hundreds of thousands of pounds of world cup tickets, and Trinidad and Tobagos players including UK based ones were in open dispute over not being paid two years previously.
I don't know who is worse - FIFA or The FA Neither of them do justice to the international football community
