England 2018 Bid Not Affected - Blatter

Saturday, 20th November 2010 at 08:21am

Fifa President Sepp Blatter yesterday insisted that the England bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals had not been damaged by the allegations brought forward by the Sunday Times newspaper.

Posing as American lobbyists, Sunday Times journalists videoed two Fifa executives asking for cash to secure their support before next month's ballot which will decide which nations will earn the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii were suspended from all football-related activities for three years and one year respectively.

Speaking after the announcement was made, Blatter said that 'entrapment' was "not fair" but added that the newspaper expose should not influence the decision against the English bid.

Blatter also said that although he didn't agree with the manner in which the corruption came to light, the expose had given Fifa a chance to "clean up".

It had been thought that the damaging revelations made by the Sunday Times had hurt England's chances of staging football's showpiece event.

Those involved in the bid were considering asking all newspaper and broadcast editors to write to Fifa expressing their support for the game's governing body.

Have Your Say About This Post