England not to bid further for FIFA WC

London: England has refused to bid for the World Cup until FIFA is rid of corruption. Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson asked Blatter to clean up FIFA.

Much of the focus has been on Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup; with an email from FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke suggesting the tournament was ‘bought’. England entered the 2018 ballot, in which they received just two of a possible 22 votes as Russia secured the World Cup for the first time, a newspaper reports. Speaking in the House of Commons, Robertson said: “I think it is very clear, both from our experience of the last bid and from what has happened subsequently, that it is an organization in need of radical structural reform. “The principles of transparency and accountability must govern that. The newly elected president (Blatter) has set the process in motion and we will watch that very carefully, but until that process is complete I doubt we’d consider a future bid.” The ballot for the 2026 World Cup will not be held for more than two years with FIFA set to introduce a new system in which all 208 nations vote, instead of the 24-man executive committee. ANI