World Football News: Harry Redknapp blasts FIFA after the 2018 World Cup gets awarded to Russia
Harry Redknapp has become the latest English Premier League manager to blast FIFA after their decision to award the FIFA 2018 World Cup to Russia. Redknapp, who was one of the people supporting England’s bid to host the 2018 version of the competition, came
out recently and compared the voting process at FIFA to X-Factor and stripping. Harry is known for his weird analogies but his criticism of FIFA hit new heights as he believes that England have been cheated out of the voting process in Zurich on 2nd
of December, 2010.
Harry Redknapp’s club side Tottenham, lately secured their spot in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League as they won their previous group stage game against the German giants, Werder Bremen. It was an emphatic performance by Tottenham who came into
this year’s UEFA Champions League competition as underdogs. Harry is one of the few managers in world football who is considered as a candidate for the English national team coaching job after Fabio Capello’s contract expires in 2012 with the Football Association.
Harry spoke at length about Russia’s tactics to win the hosting rights for the 2018 as he suggested that the Russian delegation might already have known that they were going to get the hosting rights for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Speaking about the Russian
Prime Minister’s decision to abstain from attending the voting process in Zurich on 2nd of December, Harry Redknapp said, "It was as if they knew. We send our Prime Minister over and everybody else goes over. The Russians, their prime minister (Vladimir
Putin) doesn't go. It's as if he knows he's going to win.”
Tottenham’s manager added, "You read we (English bid) were having meetings until five-o'clock in the morning; we're talking to the right people. But, obviously, they'd made their mind up. No talking in the world was going to make a difference."
Elaborating on the qualities of the English bid and FIFA’s controversial decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia, Redknapp further said, "Listen, we all know what's probably gone on. We can't probably say, can we really? It was amazing that suddenly
two such wealthy countries have ended up with the World Cup there. Don't tell me that we haven't got a better product to offer than Russia in terms of football in this country."
Harry also compared FIFA’s voting process to X-Factor. The ex-West Ham man said, "It's like going on X Factor, coming on, doing what you do. You're either good or you're not good. It's not a case then you go back, meet up with the judges for a couple of
days and have a chat and say, 'You should be voting for me really. I'm a s**y bird, I'll get my gear off for you'. What's it all about? You've either got it or you haven't got it and I thought we had it. We had the product."
England last hosted the World Cup in 1966 and now their next chance to bid for the tournament will come in 2030. Harry who is 63 at the moment might not see the World Cup coming to the home of football, in his life time.
The ex-Portsmouth manager concluded by saying, "Everything was right for us to hold the World Cup this time, since 1966, that's an awful long time for a country, really, that has the best league, probably, in the world and has got the greatest tradition
of football in the world and now it's going to be another God knows how many years. Will we ever get it again? I wouldn't know."
Tottenham play their next league match on the weekend against Birmingham City at the Saint Andrew’s stadium. A win for Hotspurs might propel them to 4th place in the English Premier League table considering Manchester City’s result at the weekend
as they currently occupy the 4th place spot.
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