Andy Anson puts pressure on the FA to change the World Cup bidding process- Part 3
Alec McGiven had battled hard in early 2000s to bring the World Cup to England but in the end his efforts had fallen short just like Anson’s. McGiven further added that the 2018 bid team had not achieved anything remarkable even
with Prime Minister David Cameron in Zurich as well as Prince William’s visit alongside David Beckham’s.
Alec hinted that the 2018 bid team had wasted their time with theatrics in Zurich. The aristocratic man who headed England’s 2006 bid campaign also expressed that the 2018 bid team had overestimated the level of support they had
amongst FIFA’s Executive Committee members due to the fact that the members were taking nicely and being friendly to the likes of David Cameron and Prince William.
He said, “I just find it astonishing that they invited the Prime Minster and Prince William to spend two or three days in Zurich. Last time we thought we were going to get five votes, we thought there was a possibility of six.
We did at least know what was going on. In that situation we said to the Prime Minister Tony Blair, 'Please don't come to Zurich, it's a waste of your time, and we can't make this'. I just don't think they knew what was happening."
Alec went onto say, "If I was David Cameron I don't think I would have been terribly thrilled to spend that time in Zurich when he could have been doing other things. I don't think it looked terribly good from their point of view
afterwards. Obviously they took advice and decided to go. But in hindsight - they were clearly wasting their time. To get humiliated in the way that we have been, I think it's a waste of their time."
England’s next chance to host the FIFA World Cup comes in 2030 but by then many of the current generation of football fans might have spent their lifetime waiting for the most prestigious football competition in the world to come
to the British Isles. Last time England hosted the World Cup, they won it. This was way back in 1966 when Geoff Hurt’s hat trick gave England the win at Wembley.
Despite the fact that England had strong backing by the likes of Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Harry Redknapp, etc, their bid fell short in the end mainly due to the damage done by English media’s
focus on the alleged corruption circles inside FIFA’s executive committee.
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