Russia brands England ‘primitive’ for its 2018 World Cup bid complaint to FIFA

LONDON - A senior Russian football official has described England 2018 World Cup bid as “absolutely primitive” for making a formal complaint to FIFA against the Russian campaign’s chief.

England had filed the complaint with FIFA after Alexei Sorokin, the Chief Executive of the Russian bid, made derogatory comments about London’s crime rate and alcohol problems.

England alleged that Sorokin’s comments contravened FIFA’s rules which dictate that bidders must not make comments about their rivals “whether adverse or otherwise”.

However, Viacheslav Koloskov, one of the most powerful officials in Russian football and former FIFA Vice-President, claims that England only made their move because they were behind Russia and were “afraid of how badly their bid is going”.

“It’s a comical situation. The English are afraid of how badly their bid is going. They now say one of the members of our bidding team has spoken out against England in an improper manner,” the Daily Express quoted Koloskov, as saying.

“It’s a raising of tensions, and also an attempt to influence the work of our bidding team. These acts have little chance of success.”

“Russia should not be afraid of sanctions. There won’t even be an investigation. The behaviour of the English is absolutely primitive. Instead of talking about their own excellence and merits, they try to put off their opponents,” he added.

Earlier, Sorokin has said that he would explain the comments, arguing that they had been misinterpreted and mistranslated.

“I do not feel that what I said originally requires an apology. I am sure there is a record of that which, if forced, I’ll have to find,” Sorokin had said.

“The idea was that the media did not focus on the negative manifestations of any other societies, ours or anyone else’s. The examples may have been bad examples, as it turned out, but they were just examples,” he added.

England and Russia, along with Belgium/Holland and Spain/Portugal, are bidding to host the 2018 World Cup.

FIFA will announce the winner on December 2. (ANI)