‘British press, complaint against Russia may nix England’s WC 2018 bid chances’

LONDON - England’s prospects of hosting World Cup 2018 has suffered a significant blow due to the British press’ recent investigative report into alleged corruption among FIFA’s executive committee, a FIFA official has said.

Michel D’Hooghe, a FIFA executive committee member, also claimed that England team’s formal complaint against the Russian campaign’s chief would prove unhelpful for a successful bid.

“Many executive members feel they are being harassed by the media, and that cannot help England. Nor does the complaint against Russia,” the Daily Express quoted D’Hooghe, as saying.

Earlier, two senior FIFA officials were provisionally suspended over allegations of offering to sell their votes in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups.

The allegations centre on Oceania Football Confederation President Reynald Temarii and FIFA executive committee member Amos Adamu.

The duo was in the 24-member committee that would vote to decide the destination of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on December 2 in Zurich.

England had also filed a complaint after Alexei Sorokin, the Chief Executive of the Russian bid, claiming that he made derogatory comments about London’s crime rate and alcohol problems.

They withdrew the complaint after Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko apologized over the matter.

England and Russia are competing for the 2018 World Cup along with joint bids by Belgium-Holland and Spain-Portugal.

The U.S. is bidding for 2022 with Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar. (ANI)