FIFA says vote-selling claims will not hurt England bid to host World Cup
A senior figure at football’s governing body FIFA has claimed that England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup will not be damaged by an English tabloid’s claims of vote-selling.
The Sunday Times reported that two executive committee members — Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii — offered to sell their votes to bring the 2022 tournament to the United States. The organisation
has launched an investigation into the claims with its president Sepp Blatter saying that the situation had created “very negative impact” on FIFA.
Blatter wrote to all of the members of the executive committee, claiming that the ethics committee and FIFA secretary general would examine the claims immediately.
However, a member of the body’s executive committee, Chuck Blazer, has said the fact that an English newspaper made the allegations would not hamper England’s World Cup bid nor cause the 2 December decision
on the destination of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to be postponed.
Blazer, who is part of the 24-person group which will decide where those tournaments are hosted, told reporters that: "I don't think this is an issue which will have an anti-English backlash in the executive
committee. If it had been in a Spanish paper, would that damage the Spanish bid? I don't think so. The investigation can be done right away. It's important we conclude the World Cup decision . . . within the timeframe established."
'They have created a scam'
He also hit out at the
Sunday Times, claiming that the paper — whose reporters had posed as representatives of companies trying to take the World Cup to the U.S — had lured Adamu and Temarii into trying to sell their votes.
He said that: "I'm disappointed with what I have read but you can't say the system is bad. They have created a scam, a trap, tempting people to do something wrong and it's up to the Fifa ethics committee
to make their recommendation."
Adamu is alleged to have said that he wanted $800,000 to build four artificial football pitches with the money being paid directly to him.
Temarii, who is president of the Oceania Football Confederation, was reported to have requested money to build a sports academy in return for his vote.
England face competition from Russia and joint bids from Holland/Belgium and Spain/Portugal for the 2018 tournament, while the US is bidding to host the 2022 iteration with Australia, Japan, South Korea
and Qatar the other countries competing.
Tags: