Boris leading the way

[Tim W]

London 2012 - Mayor cancels FIFA's London 2012 rooms

Sun, 05 Dec 13:23:00 2010

London Mayor Boris Johnson has revoked FIFA's free hotel rooms at the city's exclusive Dorchester hotel during the 2012 Olympic Games.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his team had been in line to benefit from the rooms during the two-week sporting extravaganza in the city.

However following the controversy of the 2018 World Cup vote, which saw England knocked out at the first-round stage with just two of a possible 22 votes from the FIFA executive committee, Johnson has decided that they should not receive the freebie.

He is yet to comment on the decision, which was taken after he met with Sebastian Coe, chairman of Olympic organising committee LOCOG - the body responsible for handing out the accommodation.

Russia was awarded the tournament and tiny gulf state Qatar the one four years later, which has led to a chorus of disapproval in the football world - and especially in England.

After the humiliation, Johnson - who lobbied for votes in Zurich alongside prime minister David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham - said the result was a "big blow and tremendously disappointing".

"We put together a cracking bid, our technical specification was top-notch and our stadiums would have been packed to the rafters," he added.

Also angry at the awarding again of the tournament to nations relatively lacking in facilities are the USA, Australia and Spain/Portugal.

England's loss has been blamed by members of the FIFA committee on two media investigations into corruption within the organisation, while the Sunday Times has published further claims of 'World Cup votes for sale', quoting a "whistleblower".

FA chief executive Alex Horne has said he will push for reform in the World Cup bidding process.

Eurosport

Link

[dkw]

Good old mental Boris, the next thing he`s gonna do is post dog sh*t through their letter box....

[Virosh]

Good for him. I hope when they do find somewhere else to stay, he will organise a night-time 5-a-side between Milwall and West Ham fans on the street by their rooms. Let them see what passion for the game really means.

[TheWestwayWonder]

I was in stitches reading this. Well done Boris. Another one of the people who looked absolutely shell shocked after the decision and he gets a small measure of revenge.

I would love to hear about all the other incidents of backlash. Can we put them all in the one thread?

So far I know the acting FA chairman has resigned becuase he cant trust the people at FIFA, and Andy Anson has been mouthing off to anyone who will listen, calling them liars.

Ba dah bah bah bah. I'm lovin it.

[bjd]

We are now starting to look like sour grapes merchants.

The biggest statement the bid team couldve made was to pull out of the 'bidding' after The Sunday Times revelations in October and people really wouldve taken notice then.

They didnt and continued to play the game naively thinking they were still in with a shout and were ultimately, humiliated.

Bid team only have themselves to blame being swept up in the whole charade in the first place and thinking they could play it straiht and get a result and letting the population of this country think the same too. As valid some of the complaints are, and as ethically sound some of their gripes have turned out to be, the rest of the world wont see it that way, they will just look upon us a whiny w**kers shrouded in bitterness.

[Valerie]

Although this display of sour grapes made me chuckle, I was also pissed about the apparent necessity of treating Blatter and his cronies to hugely expensive rooms at the Dorchester. Gawd, the football entourage is f**ked!

[dkw]

Bollocks to sour grapes, its about time we stood up for ourselves as a country. We are such sh*thouses at times, terrified to speak out in case we upset someone. FIFA are a disgrace and we should treat them like the joke organisation they are.

[bluegraham]

boris for fifa president. he makes me laugh hes nuts

[TheWestwayWonder]

I agree that the best thing England couldve done was to pull out of the contest and make a statement when it was looking hopeless, and when obviously corrupt voters were going to be in charge. But they didnt, and now they wont ever make that mistake again.

Fool me once, shame on you should apply here. By the looks of it, these countries wont give themslves a chance to get fooled again. I would advocate going a step further and just sending youngsters to compete in the world cups, or qualifying and just not sending a team. But people who are on the fence might interpret that as very bitter. Such an action would have to be coordinated with many different nations

And speaking of....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=849711&sec=global&cc=5901

A leading member of Australia's World Cup bid delegation has joined England in attacking FIFA members for the way the bidding process was handled.

Peter Hargitay, who held a controversial consultancy role for Australia's bid to host the 2022 finals - which went to Qatar, claims the decision was not based on sporting factors and also suggested tactical voting saw Australia eliminated in the first round with one solitary vote.

Hargitay says he was promised at least six votes by various committee members - and after the vote two different members claimed they had made that single vote.

The English media has been on a crusade against world football's governing body since Russia were awarded the 2018 finals. On Saturday, the Sun named the seven FIFA officials who told Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham that they would vote for the England bid - only to place their vote elsewhere.

Warner is said to have put his arm around Prince William and said: "You can rely on me." Erzik also said afterwards: "It was nothing personal, just business."

Hargitay, reportedly paid around AUS $1 million to secure access to important figures at FIFA, was furious with the decision to hand the finals to Qatar, a nation which has never once reached the World Cup and only progressed from the group stage of the AFC Asian Cup once in their history.

He told SBS Television: "Somebody sent me a very aggressive e-mail calling me a loser. I said 'I didn't lose'. Football lost. Before we went into the voting we had six votes that we were assured that we got. We needed at least five to survive the first round. We always knew the first round would be the crucial round.

"Of the six votes we had one left and that one vote was claimed by two people, so you tell me about dishonesty. After the vote we were told by two people they were the only ones who voted for us.

"One of the two was fibbing. The other four or five who shook hands with the chairman and who were entirely and totally credible and reconfirmed their position before they went into the vote vanished."

Looks like England isnt the only country who was decieved by these snakes. They are taking the whole world for mugs, and taking their money back to build mansions. It just makes you sick.