We haven’t covered the bidding process that much here at WCB, mainly because its been a bit boring, despite the English Press best efforts. I’m more dissapointed than I thought I’d be to be honest, but on the other hand, I do think Russia will be put on a good show and good for them. They are a growing football nation, and at least they have an interest and history in it.

The 2022 World Cup (which we weren’t competing to hold) will be held in Qatar. Which is pretty clearly not a very good choice at all. I mean, its tiny, you are basically going to have Millions of people descending on stadiums all lined up next to one another in the middle of the desert. God knows what the people are Qatar are going to do with all that stadia after the World Cup.

Back to England’s bid, and I’m sure the negative press had an impact on the thing, and I’m fairly sure it could have all been timed to cause less damage, rather than more to to the bid. But at the end of the day, there clearly is a whole bunch of corrupt dealings going on and we shouldn’t turn away from all that.

I’m dissapointed, but hey-ho. There’s a World Cup in Brazil to look forward to.

Earlier in the week Russia 2018 chief executive Alexei Sorokin critisised England drunken youth (I’m sure Russian youngsters are teetotallers by comparison) and the high crime of England’s capital city.

This apparently breaks FIFA rules where you aren’t allowed to criticise other bids (which seems odd, really) the English bid dithered for a few days before lodging a formal complaint. Apparently FIFA aren’t impressed with England lodging a formal complaint when someone broke the rules (I know, right?) and it could negatively affect England’s bid.

Meanwhile today, the Russians have gone all out not to reverse the situation. Where Viacheslav Koloskov (honorary president of the Russian Football Union) called England’s bid “absolutely primitive”. Which is a bit harsh.

Its obviously a bit childish and point scoring, but it will have an effect on the descion made, presumably. FIFA presumably will have to take into account what the Russians have said, but on the other hand, there is little point in them having any rules at all if they aren’t going to enforce them.

The problem with the latter comments is that because Koloskov’s position is honorary, he falls outside Fifa’s rules for commenting on other bids, so it could just be to try and get someone from England’s bid to say something bad and thus break the rules.

Who’d have thought FIFA would implement an absurd rule badly?

This is not to put the mistress off the hook. Having read the original Mail story (which I won’t link to, so as not to give it more press), she is merely someone looking for attention, and is willing to compromise the trust of someone, and her bloody country to get her portrait printed in the paper. Thinking about it is making me feel physically ill. As the wonderful Pies points out, this woman and the editor of the Mail have cost their country not only the joy of hosting the world’s biggest tournament, but also billions of pounds in revenue that the World Cup brings. They both deeply betrayed their country for shallow, personal reasons.

All of this drama surrounding the bid makes me so angry because England is the perfect place to host the tournament. I realise that, being English, I am biased, but logistically it makes so much sense for FIFA. England is a small country with a good public transport system, meaning even if your team played across the country, you could travel with ease and relative frugality. The infrastructure in terms of stadiums is already largely in place, meaning no panicked meetings about whether England would be ready in time. Hooliganism is basically none existent (I’ve never felt in any danger when going to a game, and I’ve walked through hoards of scousers in my Bolton scarf). Most importantly, England has a huge football culture. FIFA took a gamble choosing South Africa, and while it is a big step forward, it might be nice for them not to be worried for four years prior to the event.

This whole affair has gotten me thoroughly upset at the negligence of Lord Triesman, and the betrayal both on the part of his mistress and the Daily Mail. As the Pies article I linked to above, I think any football fan with a sense of loyalty should immediately boycott the Mail. It can work, we all know that the Sun doesn’t shine on Merseyside, and I resent every penny they earn from that paper.

But it’s not just Dein who’s amping up their efforts, our good Prince William has stepped up as well. He is, as you may know, the president of the FA, and is doing a tour of Africa this summer with his brother, suspiciously close to World Cup time. It’s rumoured that they will be holding a reception to support the bid. While nothing is confirmed a spokesman for the princes said: “Prince William is keen to support the FA with its Bid to host the World Cup in England in 2018.” Well if you’re that keen get cracking Prince William!

Both of these things are good news for the bid, which has rarely seen good news. Now we just need to make sure that neither Prince William nor David Dein insult Jack Warner’s mother or something…

“I like to see him everywhere and always”

Really Sepp? Everywhere and always? That’s a pretty serious commitment. But as I said, after Sir Dave Richards’ not-so-subtle resignation, which showed the internal disarray of the bid, I’m taking what I can get.

It seems to me that David Beckham’s celebrity (and dashing good looks in Sepp’s case) are the only things that will save the bid now. After Jack Warner’s lashing out and Dave Richards display of treason, the bid is left looking fairly foolish. Which is silly as England is an ideal place for the World Cup. It has the stadiums, public transport, it’s not too big, and most importantly has an excellent football culture. So, Mr. Beckham, I beg you, get us the World Cup! No one else will be able to.

I leave you with another fantastic quote from Blatter’s love-fest

“They [England] have to use him for everything forever.”

Everything? Forever?

Could this work of art kill England's World Cup Bid?

OK so perhaps the title is a tad hyperbolic, but really things are getting ridiculous. A quick refresher course for those of you who have missed this: England (as you all should know) is bidding to host the 2018 World Cup. Recently there was a conference in London at which Jack Warner, a FIFA vice-president, was present. Geoff Thompson, former FA chairman and current FIFA vice-president, held a dinner which Warner and his wife attended. At said dinner Geoff Thompson presented Warner’s wife with a Mulberry handbag (and let me just state for the record that I’m incredibly jealous) valued at £230.

Here’s where the controversy starts. Apparently Jack Warner’s wife thought that this was just a pleasant gift from the FA for her birthday (let us skip how little sense this assumption makes), but the wives of the 23 other men on FIFA’s executive committee also received a handbag. Now, roughly two weeks after receiving said handbag, Jack Warner has sent it back with a very angry letter (kindly published here, nice stationary Mr. Warner) claiming the handbag was “tainting her character and mine”.

Now that you have the general gist of things, lets go look at some details. In his speech in the conference Mr. Warner wondered point blank why England hadn’t showered him with goodies yet (Australia and Qatar already had), I quote “Why isn’t there a bag for England? People are looking at these things and asking themselves questions[.]” If you read the letter in full then you will have read this: “I also wish to state that there is nothing that your FA can offer me to get my vote.” How is the FA supposed to suck up to Mr. Warner with such mixed signals?

While he never explicitly stated that the reason the handbag was so character tainting was that it implied him and his wife in bribery, this is the widely supported hypothesis (and quite honestly I can’t think of another reason to give up a lovely Mulberry handbag. Though I still wouldn’t give it up. Readers Note: If you ever need to bribe me, this would work). However Jack Warner who has been involved in multiple monetary scandals in football (the highlights of which are so kindly outlined by TheSpoiler.) I hate to break it to you Mr. Warner, but your character is pretty tainted at this point. A (perfectly legal under FIFA regulations) gift of a handbag isn’t going to change your legacy.

Lastly one must seriously question the common sense of both Mr. Warner and his wife Maureen. Did the Warners seriously think that the FA loved Maureen so much that they would just give her a (rather expensive) handbag for her birthday? And did it really take the couple two weeks to realise that 23 other women also received handbags? Either the two really are incredibly thick or they are lying somewhere.

As you may have surmised by this point I think this whole affair is ridiculous. Unfortunately, however irrational it all seems, it may seriously harm England’s (not too shiny) World Cup Bid. Being implicated in a bribery scandal does not make your country look like an idyllic place to host the biggest sporting event on Earth. And even though we can all see how silly it is (at least I hope you can see), you can never rely on the geniuses at FIFA to be reasonable, and our bid does rest tenderly in their unforgiving claws. I do think, in my undying optimism, that this will all blow over eventually and the real meat of the bid will be what it is judged upon, and we can all look back and laugh someday (preferably in England, summer of 2018) at the complete idiocy of FIFA and everyone in it.

I came here and was shocked that I got a bag for Australia at the entrance. [If I were England] I wouldn’t have allowed it. Why isn’t there a bag for England? People are looking at these things and asking themselves questions.

So yeah, basically because some meeting was taking place at Stamford Bridge, and the Aussies throught to hand out tat, they might get them the World Cup. Surreal eh?

Obviously, we probably should have said “oi, Australia, get out. Stop handing out goody bags at our summit”. But you know, we’re friendly. Possibly. Or possibly we thought that handing out a random goody bag probably wasn’t going to be the most important factor when talking about where a blinking World Cup should be held.

Warner also had some, possibly better, advice for England – getting D-Beck involved in the campaign and pushing the Premier League brand a bit.

But even that seems quite shallow. I mean, If i was voting for who was going to get the World Cup, stuff like infrastructure, how they deal with fans, history, stadia etc would be the big factors. Not that we’ve got a popular marketable star, and don’t hand out England 2018 Car Stickers.

Maybe that’s just me though?

Among the people there, David Beckham added a bit of glamour, Geoff Hurst added a bit of history and beleaguered Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced it is his own mission to make sure we get the 2018 World Cup. Alright so the last one is a massive PR move, but it probably can’t do much harm.

Looking at the bidders, I think we might stand a chance of getting one of the World Cups. There are some strong other bids, but we might just nick one I think.

The main thing, I think is that although there are two World Cups, so almost two chances to get one, I doubt FIFA will want two successive World Cups in Europe, so we have to be the strongest of the European bids.

The Other Bids and What I Think Of Them:

Australia
Actually could be a good bid, they probably have the money and the Stadia to do it.

Belgium & Netherlands
Do you remember Euro 2000? I can’t remember much. That might just be because England were rubbish though. Potentially the value of the Dutch could give this one strength.

Indonesia
Surely an outsider?

Japan
Undoubtedly could host a good World Cup (see 2002) but might have had it a bit too recently.

South Korea
See Above. With the added fact that some countries (Italy for example) are probably still mad at them.

Mexico
Obviously at the moment, there is the whole Swine Flu nonsense, but that’ll be well over by 2018. People have good memories of 1970.

Qatar
I don’t see FIFA going the money is good route myself.

Russia
I think they have a really good chance. Russian football is in the ascendency at the moment, with Arshavin, the rise of the Zenit and their performance at the Euros last time out. They have the money to realistically hold one, but with Ukraine holding the Euro’s next time around, UEFA countries might lend their support elsewhere.

Spain & Portugal
Could be a strong bid, as both have strong football sides and countries full of love for the game. The only things that might get in the way are if countries don’t fancy another joint bid, are worried about Spanish politics, or worry about the fact there are two languages for some to learn.

USA
Could go either way. With the rise in profile of the MLS post-Beckham, its certainly the time for America to convince the world it actually does care about football. They had it in 94, but its probably long enough to bid again. But most countries will worry about American indifference, but will want to win them over for money reasons. Whichever feeling wins that battle will decide the bid.

So there you go. In my view, the strongest bids come from Europe, which is a pain really, as there probably won’t be two in Europe. We’ll find out in December 2010 who has it.