Football’s homecoming delayed by cloud of controversy

By Amit Katwala, writing from England

Travelers attempting to get into Britain have again faced disruption and difficulties as a cloud of volcanic ash has again grounded flights from many major airports. But their trials will be nothing compared to the torturous path that the 2018 World Cup will have taken if the FA somehow manage to bring it to these shores as part of Britain’s decade of sport.

Chaotic from the outset, like many FA projects, the campaign seemed to have been dealt a killing blow yesterday, just two days after David Beckham delivered the official bid book outlining why England is best placed to host the event. The Mail on Sunday, tabloid in disguise, and newspaper of choice for ‘Middle England’ decided to publish the details of a private conversation between the chairman of the bid (and of the FA) had with a former aide (who was recording the conversation so she could sell it to the newspaper). In this private conversation, between two private individuals, Triesman mentioned that he had heard speculation of conspiracy theories regarding an alleged plot between the Spanish and Russian football associations to fix matches in exchange for votes in the World Cup bidding process. Note that he did not make the allegations himself, nor did he make any statements regarding whether he believed them to be true or not.