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Brazen Fifa chief Sepp Blatter has slammed English football as “bad losers” over the 2018 World Cup stitch-up.
The Swiss head of the global game has come under sustained fire from England, the USA and Australia over last week’s Zurich carve-up which handed Russia the 2018 World Cup and sent the 2022 tournament to oil-rich Qatar.
But rather than acknowledging the damage done to Fifa by the behaviour of its executive committee members, including the seven who promised England bid members including Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron of their support and then reneged, Blatter launched into an attack on the defeated candidates.
Blatter, who had strongly supported the Russian bid, said: “To be honest, I was surprised by all the English complaining after the defeat. England, of all people, the motherland of fair play ideas.
“Now some of them are showing themselves to be bad losers. You can’t come afterwards and say so and so promised to vote for England. The results are known. The outcome came out clearly.”
Blatter and Fifa’s handling of the entire bid process has been condemned globally after the bids ranked the best technically and economically were routed, while Russia and Qatar, who fared poorly in the official study and in the report on financial viability for international management consultants McKinsey triumphed.
FA bid leaders including chief executive Andy Anson branded the process “a waste of time” and suggested Blatter should have saved them the bother of competing when he was determined to take the tournament to new territories.
Blatter reinforced the impression that the vote had been deliberately skewed as he accused critics of the Qatar win of racism, adding: “I really sense in some reactions a bit of the arrogance of the western world of Christian background.
“Some simply can’t bear it if others get a chance for a change. What can be wrong if we start football in regions where this sport demonstrates a potential which goes far beyond sport?”
And despite the evidence of recent months - and the looming probe into Fifa and other international sports organisations promised by the Swiss government - Blatter insisted: “There is no systematic corruption in Fifa. That is nonsense.
“We are financially clean and clear. But we need to improve our image. We also need to clarify some things within Fifa.”
Source: MirrorFootball
