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July 8th 2010. An ordinary Thursday except for one small matter. Howard Webb was selected to referee the World Cup final the following Sunday between Spain and the Netherlands. I've been convinced from that moment that Russia will win the 2018 bid for the World Cup.
It would be nice to be proved wrong, that my instinct is incorrect. It's been 44 years since England last hosted the World Cup and a return to England is well overdue. As in all things politics, and an ineptitude by the FA almost on par with the England team performances, have prevented the return of the event.
Politics is a game. It has very little to do with what is right or wrong. Something paradoxically that Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair understood while numerous leaders on both sides have misunderstood and continue to misunderstand.
And so it is with FIFA and the World Cup. Sometimes corruption is part of that game. This can, and does, take many forms. There are all kinds of scurrilous accusations in the press at the moment. Some may be true, we do tend to think the worst about people, some may not.
When the England bid fails, as I believe it will this week, there will be a lot of finger pointing concerning the allegations made in The Sunday Times newspaper and the Panorama television programme. It will be said that this is the reason the English bid failed.
I disagree.
England appear to have failed to build the coalition of support that is usually required to win such bidding. The Olympics in 2012 are normally offered as a counter point in such arguments. The problem with that is the report from the BBC that an accidental vote for Paris by a delegate knocked out Madrid when the Spanish capital was expected to get all of the French votes in subsequent voting and then defeat London.
Russia have always been the biggest opponent to the England bid. Opening up new markets is a goal of FIFA, a not unreasonable one.
A shame really. City would have been guaranteed games in the World Cup and unless you live in Mexico or Germany the World Cup hosting is normally a once in a lifetime event.
And Howard Webb? Go read the remarks of Lord Triesman the former head of the FA and the 2018 World Cup bid who was forced to resign after his comments about Spain, Russia and the World Cup... With those in the public record, there really was only one person who could referee the final. You can say many things about Howard Webb, but no one will ever question his integrity.
 
Comments
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Posted by Neil Blinston on 11/30/2010
You may be right, but if you are it will be a travesty ! England is the perfect indeed massively overdue venue for The World Cup, they could host one next month if pushed. Everything is already in place unlike Russia and hosting it in England would make it the most profitable World Cup ever, swelling FIFA's coffers. If Russia do win the bid it will, as you have pointed out,have been a political decision and a totally unjust one with no doubt a pat on the back for The F.A for a jolly good bid from FIFA but F.A else ! I sincerely hope you are wrong.
Wallace Reply Suspect that an American bid in 2022 would be the most profitable. The 94 Cup still holds records for attendance I believe and the US public are a lot more football savvy than they used to be - the US came to a halt in many places during this year's World Cup.
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Posted by Erich on 12/01/2010
Hi Wallace,
Interesting points made, what do you make of the Australian bid for the 2022 WC? The US does look strong but yet again the new frontiers argument is worth keeping. Asia is a massive market and Australia fits that well. Unfortunately the politics and corruption that could be involved have Qatar favourites which to me is outright stupid. thoughts?
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Posted by Jim Kanichirayil-Chicago on 12/01/2010
I think England and the US are in the same boat. FIFA will probably opt for the "new market" approach in the next two cups (Russia and Australia). England for 2018 and the US for 2022 make the most sense from a financial, attendance, and infrastructure point of view which is exactly why FIFA will opt for something completely illogical. They currently have egg on their face after the sting and I don't think they'll be in the mood to do England any favors.
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Posted by geo on 12/01/2010
Overdue my balls! There are a couple hundred countries in the world and most have not hosted a world cup. England hosted the European Championship in 1996. Let others take a turn before you go again. Mexico was an aberration.
Russia has never hosted a World Cup or a Euro Cup. They are indeed overdue for such a tournament. Put a sock in it.
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Posted by EB on 12/01/2010
It would be nice to see the WC head back to England, but it would probably not be the "most profitable ever" as the proposed stadia are much the same size as those that Germany used recently, and that still fell far short of the (24 team) WC hosted in the USA. It would be absolutely trounced by a 2022 WC bid in the USA as well (projected 3.5 million tix in UK 4.9 in USA)
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Posted by Neil Blinston on 12/02/2010
San Antonio didn't come to a halt mate !
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Posted by Abraham Dajoh on 12/02/2010
The hosting right should be handed to England, its long since they last hosted(44yrs back). Players will only get injured on their tough surface should Russia get the right. I support England even though I don't support English national football team.
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Posted by Caltobi on 12/02/2010
I respectfully agree with the sentiment that England has the strongest bid. The main reason communicated is fan culture and the strength of the EPL. The latter is achieved by unsustainable spending of borrowed or sugar-daddy money, the first one valid, but a unnecessary motive: 4 years ago we already had the world cup very successfully hosted by an established football nation with strong traditions. And the next one is in Brazil. So it should be Russia afterwards, with more new and coming charm.
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Posted by Abrah on 12/02/2010
It is unfortunate the way the English use the media. They know how to play around with the media to their benefit. As Wallace said it is all about opening up new Markets. So I hope, like everyone thinks it will go to Russia. All Honours to Russia. remember the Moscow olympics?? Goodluck
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Posted by Adm on 12/02/2010
Wallace, since so many controversial mounts on England, why you opted to choose Russia? I think Portugal/Spain is a strong contenders too, they have strong numbers of football supporters, complete facilities and the political views are not-so published. I hope you can explain about Russia chances, as i don't know too much about it.
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Posted by Cody on 12/02/2010
blatter needs to go. russia is one thing (still upsetting) but qatar winning is complete ****. players wont be able to play in that heat (even though they claim they can air condition out door stadiums) and it'll be miserable for fans temperature wise. Will also be way too crowded there! US or Australia wouldve been the right choice. I know blatter is not the one directly responsible for this (voters are), but its him who tries to lead fifa towards novelty and politics and away from the game itself
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Posted by Dave on 12/02/2010
This is totally 100% true, and the same has to be said about the 2022 bid as well. So it turns out you have been proved right and I agree with you reasoning. Also, like Russia, Qatar's bid was far from the best. But the political game with FIFA's ExCo has gifted them something they never should have had.
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Posted by Bobby on 12/03/2010
Well, there we go then, another blemish on the character of football. How Russia won that is totally beyond me, I would have put them far behind Malta (if Malta were to have bid of course). Having had the extreme displeasure of visiting Moscow for business on a few occasions I'd love to know who is actually going to go and watch the WC except for a few Russians? It's practically impossible to get a visa, the transport links are dire and let's face it they're not exactly known for the organisational skills, please see Champions League final for reference. Then again the FIFA lot do have to share a brain cell between them and as Panorama pointed out, think with their wallets anyway. By the way, great job BBC, I'm sure you're proud of yourselves, your 'contribution' to the bid will never ever be forgotten. If you where from Russia you'd be tried as traitors and exiled to Qatar, but hey it's only football (and a few billion dollars worth of revenue).
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Posted by Stan on 12/05/2010
The World Cup selection process seems almost as odiferous as the Olympic site selections were prior to the exposes about the massive bribes being given to IOC members. It will probably take a fiasco of a WC (in terms of logistics, crowds, etc.) to bring about a change.
If the British media WERE a key reason England was rejected, then the World Cup selection process is ruled by 12-year-olds. But I agree with you, Wallace: poor organization and a lack of coalition-building by the FA seemed far more obvious a culprit.
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About
Wallace Poulter is an award winning video game producer, designer, industry consultant and writer. He has been a football fanatic since the day he moved in next door to Brian Clough. "Cloughie" being the acknowledged genius that he was promptly moved out and went to manage Derby. A serviceable senior school left-back in his youth, Poulter played one season of Sunday league football as a striker proving conclusively that he was a serviceable senior school left-back! Today Poulter remains involved with football as a licensed referee and most recently as a consultant on a Football MMO.
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