FIFA World Cup Storm: FA Chairman Resigns and Thailand Friendly Is Off

Roger Burden, the acting FA chairman, has quit and England have called off their friendly against Thailand as the fall-out from the FIFA World Cup voting scandal continues.

Burden, appointed in May when he replaced Lord Triesman (who, ironically, resigned over comments regarding World Cup collusion between Spain and Russia), said: “I’m not prepared to deal with people I can’t trust. I recognise that an important part of my role would be liaising with FIFA so I’ve withdrawn my candidacy.”

The Thai clash, scheduled for June, has been cancelled as the game was only planned in return for support for England’s World Cup bid. In the end, England only gained two votes – their own and Japan’s – when Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup in Zurich on Thursday.

Burden is as mystified as the rest of the country by England’s first round failure in the ballot. He said: "We were equal top of Fifa's own technical assessment of the four bids. We were top of an independent assessment of the best commercial bids and our final presentation was widely acclaimed as the best of the 2018 and 2022 bids.

" I am struggling to understand how we only achieved two votes. It is difficult to believe that the voting was an objective process. Prince William, the Prime Minister and other members of our delegation were promised votes that did not materialise."

The English tabloids have concentrated on the “betrayal” behind last Thursday’s vote. Prince William was promised “at least six votes” but the 22 members of the FIFA Executive Committee – including the much courted CONCACAF member Jack Warner - went back on their word, leading to allegations of corruption and bribery.

Two members of the Exec Committee had already been suspended after a Sunday Times investigation two months ago and BBC’s Panorama team put three more members under pressure last Monday. That may have skewed the vote but Burden said: "We have a free press in our country. There is no doubt that English football benefits from the media coverage that it receives and would have been given great coverage if we had brought the World Cup to England.”

Both Russia and Qatar, who won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, have an appalling record when it comes to press freedom. The Press Freedom Index, which lists England at 19 in their carefully compiled rankings, has Russia at 140 and Qatar at 120.

But while the media waxed lyrical over those and other issues – Russia and Qatar have yet to build the vast majority of their stadia - Burden added: "I have no issue with Russia's winning bid. I am sure they will put on a great World Cup and I have congratulated them."

Burden will stay on while the FA search for a successor, which may prove a tough task after the week’s shenanigans.

Russia and Qatar get World Cups, England gets two votes

This is all that matters:

Round 1: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes,Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 9 votes.

Round 2: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 13votes (Russia obtain absolute majority)

In the end, after all the hype, all the spin, it was Russia by a mile. Their prime minister Vladimir Putin didn’t bother to go to Zurich yesterday, but by then he probably knew his vast nation would be hosting the 2018 World Cup.

England’s slick bid, backed by the Three Lions of David Cameron, David Beckham, Prince William and a 30-strong galaxy of stars, managed just two votes. Out first round. Ouch. Portugal and Spain will feel the same disappointment. They were convinced they had a least eight supporters. Belgium and Holland will be happy to have finished third.

But it was all so predictable. I said so here, a week ago. Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022. They have the money, the right profile for FIFA and Sepp Blatter. England and Australia would have been better choices for football, but hey, it’s all about profitability and breaking new ground.

Russia are promising to spend £6bn including ten new stadia. Quite how fans are going to travel around the biggest country in the world, I’m not sure. Crime? Corruption? Plenty of that too in Russia. But hey, if Putin and the Roman Abramovich gang are behind it with the cash, no problem.

Qatar are just the opposite in terms of size. A tiny nation promising to build a series of near-neighbouring stadia to host the 2022 World Cup. But they’ll have to provide air-conditioning too. I worked out there in the summer. It’s like a furnace. And hardly a footballing hot-bed. But hey, all that oil, all that cash... never a chance for the rival bidders, Australia, the USA, South Korea and Japan.

So England and former Arsenal chief executive David Dein are gutted. Just two votes from the 22—strong FIFA executive committee, despite providing the best presentation, the strongest technical bid.

Dein, so important to this bid, was on the verge of tears: “Football politics are difficult. Two votes? That’s where we are. I’m very sad. I hoped for better. We worked extremely hard. I tell you one thing, winning is one thing, losing is another.”

Prince William’s Royal approval was of no consequence. He said: “I’m immensely proud to have been part of it. Congratulations to Russia. It’s very sad, we gave everything we could. I’m sorry for the fans back home.”

Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, said: “You saw that presentation today. I thought it transcended all our expectations. Everybody was on message. It was fantastic. A great technical bid. Here were are empty handed.

“It doesn’t matter about rounds, it’s all about who won it. But clearly, as Mr Blatter said: “We are taking these World Cups to two new countries.” That is a difficult thing to come up against. We have the stadiums and the infrastructure. I sense the British media’s criticism may have had an effect but if it has had a bearing it would be disappointing.”

Like the Eurovision Song Contest, England just aren’t popular on the global stage. That much we know now. All those great Premier League stadia did little to warm our footballing cousins to the home of the game.

And the truth is, Russia and Qatar represent new markets for FIFA. Huge profits. Unlimited spending. How can anybody compete with that?

See also www.neal-collins.blogspot.com for earlier analysis of World Cup bids.