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So the British are just as corrupt as everyone else. Shocker.

The only difference between Britain and the rest of the world is people here are so stupid they still believe our elite are different to the rest of the world's. Murdoch's brainwashing is working a treat.

It's hypocracy all over again isn't it. We now kno wthe only reason England 2018 bid team were angry becuase other bidding teams beat them to their game and it wasn't about something the other teams were doing that they didn't do.

In fact, we now know that England 2018 team was trying to break FIFA rule as well.

"More importantly - and perhaps embarrssingly - the documents show that, whatever you think of the tactics involved in these big sporting bids, England were ultimately incapable of doing the backroom deals required." Yes, it also show the hypocracy of the bidding team!

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Why on earth do we play these stupid tactics at all?

David -these revelations just heap more embarassment onto the the FA and the English bid makers. Before there was some 'crumb of comfort' in that we could feel that we really were too honest and naive about the process and about what was actually required; but now we know the brutal truth, we knew only too well what was required but could not delivery it - there really has to be some FA chiefs prepared to 'fall on their swords' now, surely?

Now this is something Panorama should have investigated the week before the vote rather than recycling a decade old story but better late than never I suppose.

Good work ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.

So after the initial wave of outrage and finger-pointing at the cheating foreigners it emerges that the English bid was not the paragon of virtue their press were advertising, how...unexpected?

Any journalist who was incapable of seeing this coming is part of a propaganda machine either by choice or incompetence. One thing was not to have proof at the time and another was to actually believe/report as facts the nonsense being disseminated by the English bid and their media supporters.

P.s. Oh well, at least the new F1 season is almost upon us and that red team and that Spaniard must be up no good for sure, unlike the local silver wearing lads, right David Bond?

"Bin Hammam explained to England, however, that he would be told how to vote by the Emir of Qatar."

Can I now expect FIFA to suspend Qatar on the grounds of political interference ?

@ no.1 spot on.

On another note, to those in recent times that criticised FIFA, Blatter and the WC bid process.

Care to comment today?

GET OVER IT!

We lost the bid, and yet here the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is wasting licence-feepayers' money on irrelevant FOI requests.

Most of the content 'unearthed' is unfounded supposition and accusation that everyone is cheating, and the only substance is that if everyone else is cheating then we should, too.

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Does any of this really matter?

Wow!! where is the panorama crew? Are they aware of this revelation? What does the producer and Jeremy Vine have to say. Is there an apology to the Russians? I wonder what our allies the Americans & Aussies have to say about this, after seeing whom they thought was there close ally actively seeking to do deals that possibly went against them.
Oh what about the MOTD panel? Will they be commenting this weekend by 1st appologising for their comments following the aftermath of the loss? How does Shearer feel about being a ver low level ambassador with absolutely no influence at all, seeing that the bidding was actually being doen by high level Royal delegates, government oficials, of which the likes of him could not get close? Finally, will David Cameron apologise to the country (although he came in late to the bid process) for the errors of the FA?
We as a country are so guilty in this whole process and with this documented evidence we deserve to be banned from football following the government involvement in this process. In short, we should be lucky to get off the hook by FiFa. Sepp Blatter has more nous to shut us up as a country, and this makes our press very questionable? The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ was very bias in their reporting, and the only face saver they have is that this new revelation is brought to the public by their colleague.
I sincerely do hope the press in this country learn their lessons. Its very relevant to get info out to the public, but not to be one sided. The panorama report was quite biased, and with this revelation, we can only hold our breath to what the Russian press and other nations will say. It is very clear whit big events like the wc & olympic hosting, a lot of back deals and negotiations take place, not just sporting reasons. For the panorama team to make a report with bias shows how shallow their investigation was. I hope the rest of the press do learn a lesson. Negotiations and deals are part of our society, even journalist do this when trying to get a job.

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This really does not add a lot to the story. The UKTI simply helps oil the wheels for British companies looking to invest abraod. Those companies are private and will only actually engage in a deal if they believe it in the interests of their shareholders. Russia has much more state control of major domestic firms and thus play geopolitics with another country whose large firms are also wholly or partly state owned and could thus use world cup support as part of package deal. Glad to see the Royals had enough sense not to get involved on a hiding to nothing. The UK bid team seems to have understood how the game is played and been prepared to play it (I agree they are hypocritical) but we have enough transparency in our markets and governance that it was impossible for them to play it in the same way as Russia. As far as I'm concerned let the greedy sports like Football and F1 get entangled in chasing the cash of authoritarian regimes - as Bahrain has shown it will come back to bite them.

Oh dear, moderation all round, whatever happened to freedom of speech?

#1

So the British are just as corrupt as everyone else. Shocker.
--------------------------------

No the british were not involved. There was no British bid. Only English!

Did the English taxpayer or English FA pay for the Royal Trip to Qatar which was meant to promote the bid?

The Times ran a story last year on this and also said that The Grand Old Duke of York, had ten thousand men!

Why is it that every blog that mentions the royal family is heavily moderated. Are people not allowed to comment on what these people do? If a member of the English royal family is involved in a corrput process are people wrong to question that? Did Andrew know this action was not permitted by FIFA and if he did know why was he involved in this?

The current board should be sacked and voting open and public and declared before a meeting. Members should be debarred from voting for their countries and maybe even their continents. Britain should use professional negotiators rather than unreliable amateur royals. Mind you having one of Australia's top business men heading their bid (Frank Lowry) did not do them any good. In the end as with the Olympics there should be a permanent site in a country that is accessible and neutral such as Turkey. The last election should be made null and void and a fresh board appointed and then just elect the "Russian bid" with the "Qatari" to be held later, and replaced by the permanent site but in a cooler climate. There is every chance that Qatar could go the way of Tunisia and Yemen any way.

It is still in the public interest to report these emails, so well done to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for pursuing it. The FA represents football at all levels in England, and anyone who plays or follows the sport has a right to know if their governing body is trying to arrange voting deals which are contrary to FIFA rules.

I'm just not surprised by it in the slightest. I haven't seen many newspapers or websites making a fuss about this in the UK, but I hope their Spanish and Portuguese counterparts have picked up on it.

Many of the comments above, quite rightly, are concerned over the English bid, and its failure to secure the deal. As a sports fan though, my concern is how this highlights they way that Fifa is run, and World Cup hosting rights are awarded, which by these revelations indicate it goes to the best diplomatic countries, or those that can do the dodgy backroom deals, rather than to the best country, to deliver a successful world cup. I don't claim England had the best bid on that front, but if reports were to be believed (!) it should have been a shoot out between us and Russia! The follow up shenanigans over Qatar's success though, and talks of moving the dates because of the heat in summer, show the bidding process to be a complete sham. We shouldn't bother bidding again, it's a giant waste of time and money!

hahaha

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What strikes is that Bin Hammam openly admitted that his votes were directed by the Emir of Qatar. So basically, nobody in the EXCO reads the technical reports or the bid books... and openly admits the fact. Disgusting.

What is annoying to the rest of the world isn't so much that England can be corrupt but more the dishonesty and hypocrosy that so often gets displayed in this country. Whatever dubious practices were going on by all competing nations during the bidding process, these revelations reveal that the English bid team were just as willing to resort to similar practices as the rest of them. Once England had lost the bid, so many in this country were taking the moral high ground, accusing various foreign teams of corruption whilst declaring England to be oh so virtuos and honest in comparison. It is not a stance that looks too clever now.

This isn't even news. Two of the bidding countries tried to make a deal during the bidding, which probably happened a lot. Report something worthwhile ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.

i think england should of got it, we shouldnt need a partnership with qatar, we created the game so we deserved it!

WE LOST THE BID....GET OVER IT ALL READY........IF WE WANTED TO HOST THE WORLD CUP WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT LIKE RUSSIA AND QATAR........GET OVER IT PLEASE...TIME TO MOVE ON :p

post 33 is obv not british and is probably a man u fan i can tell

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post 33 is obviously not british and is certainly a liverpool fan, I can tell

My understanding is that the England team players give their match fee to charity. Why don't the FA should give the England Men's Senior team to charity, too? They could formally announce that they are re-prioritising their operations and will not seek competitive results.

In this way, it can become a marketing opportunity for the Premier League and everyone associated with the game here wins. The FA can focus and raise the profile of the good work that they do away from the glare of power, corruption and lies.

So much for sport and politics not mixing! Just confirmation of what a big lie we're all living. The expense of prostituting ourselves in the bidding process, along with all the behind the scenes shenanigans, reignites doubts in my mind about who really such bids are for the benefit of. I feel relief it's all over.

Will FIFA be suspending all these FAs for political interference? Not to mention confederations. Would any be left? Would it be left? Sepp Blatter was talking yesterday about self-discipline, respect, fair play, and the greater your power, the greater your responsibility to others. That's right, Sepp!

In reply to the first post sleepingspurs "So the British are just as corrupt as everyone else. Shocker". That statment is wrong as it should have read "So the English are just as corrupt as everyone else. Shocker".Britain as yet do not have a football association. Given time with the Brit governments iterference in the sport with their plans for a Team GB olympic football team this British football association is just round the corner.Say goodby to having 4 teams competing at international level.NO TEAM GB.

Surprise, surprise, the World Cup bid failed because the Englsish delegation couldn't cut the backroom deals to secure the FIFA votes.
I cannot say I'm amazed by this.

It does make you wonder, in terms of the Olympic bid, whether it means the "legacy" of winning the bid will result in more British jobs and services being moved away ("outsourced" as companies like to say) to those countries that supported the Olympic bid. Maybe Panorama would like to do a little digging on this one ?

That's the key problem with these major events - politicians and businesses who have no real interest in sport, other than to use it as a means for self-aggrandisement (politicians and sporting "lords") or for promoting their business ideals, just do not care about the actual event, only the outcome and lining their own pockets.

Don't tell me that businesses see it as a way to secure jobs in this country, because they are driven by shareholders who demand a return on their investment using the cheapest resources possible - and that isn't here.

Makes you wonder why bother at all.

Who actually really cares. The real question is in which country do most of the nations involved in the football world cup want to play the event? The answer is not Russia and definitely not Qatar..

I definitely do not think that the logical assumption here is that the English negotiation team is just as corrupt as anyone else, nor that they do not know how to negotiate. Obviously, the Qataris and the Russians won their respective bids, and it would seem they were able to strike a deal. It could be that what happened between them could simply not happen between the English and the Qatari, the reason being not a lack of negotiation skills, but a lack of will to go to certain lengths (or depths) on the English side. It seems wrong to assume merely that the English cannot negotiate - rather, they might not had been able to offer the things that the Russians eventually offered, not because they did not have them, but because on the scale of general nastiness, they were just too much.

If I was English, then in the light of these documents, I'd be almost happy that my team scored only two points in these selections - because these points seem to be awarded on the bases of an ability to conclude underhand deals. As yourselves: whatever was it that the Russians did to earn the deal with Qatar, would you really like your team and government to do the same?

The conclusion obviously is all such future dealing must be made transparent. The whole process is merely an expensive exercise in hypocrisy.

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I forgot to add.... that the World Cup would therefore switch between France & Germany - (who have hosted WC & Euro too many times already) because they have a rather delightful High-Speed Railway service... and a hell of a lot of decent Hotels.

Why not host the Euro Tournament in Australia (or Japan - where they also have fast trains) Let's face it - many English teams go for a pre-season Sun-Fest in foreign climes without complaints... just to wear themselves into a knackered state just when when the season begins.

I think I'll do an "Owen Hargreaves" and call in Sick tomorrow

Comment 44 (mine) was removed... for reasons unknown... perhaps I misspelled something that might have been mistaken for something else.

Lets give it my Editor.... revised copy...

The FA and most of England were wide-eyed and seemingly upset. FIFA already had any other country targeted, to transport the World Cup around the globe at their pleasure. The (pre-determined) winning Nations were a foregone conclusion in MY book... and many other right-minded people too. We were proved right. So... all "bids" were a waste of time, stupid fanfare - and represented a bit of a legal problem.

FIFA need to be hit where it hurts most. I would love to see Russia declare their assets as illegally gained and semi-graciously withdraw from hosting the 2018 event. Then see Qatar declare that 2022, in retrospect, was an impossible dream because of certain "tolerance" matters.

"The emails show how the England bid team had spoken to Mohammed bin Hammam, the head of Asian football and vice president of Fifa, about the best way to secure his vote. This was significant because he carried at least another two Fifa members with him -Thailand's Worawi Makudi and Egypt's Harry Abou Rida.

Bin Hammam explained to England, however, that he would be told how to vote by the Emir of Qatar"

So this effectively meant that the Emir of Qatar had control over THREE of the votes as he decided Bin Hammam vote and Bin Hamman decided 'Thailand's Worawi Makudi and Egypt's Harry Abou Rida' votes.

Surely it should be left for each Fifa member to deicde who to vote for themselves?

"Tolerance" = Not being supportive of some public or even private displays of practicing preparatory efforts of successful reproductive techniques after imbibing intoxicating liquids.

World Cup 2026.... the winner is....TIBET

I haven't read all of this. I can't be bothered as it has been established for a long time that the system is corrupt, but doesn't the Emir deciding who the vice president of FIFA should vote for break FIFA rules on political figures from being banned from making decision on the sport?

post 37. is obv a man u fan he has no sense at all and believes everything he reads in the paper all i have to say about this person is he must of had a bad upbringing

Why wont you publish my criticism of the Royals involvement in the inadequate negotiations for staging the World cup or are you afraid of Lese Majeste? Well I live in Australia so its not a problem for me your just scared!

Then you must be opposed to my suggestion that having an new election that is open and a fresh panel be appointed, a fresh election held for Russia's result and a permanent home be found for the world cup in somewhere accessible to all after that (as should happen for the Olympics. Actually one site for all International; events and evn transcontinental events such as the Asian, European and Americas cup. Maybe a large Island in the Indian Ocean .

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England's 2018 bid: A Foyal Ruck up, all in all.

Quite clear then that far too much British money was wasted on this farce.