London - England's Football Association on Thursday rejected claims
by world governing body FIFA's ethics committee that it violated
bidding rules in its unsuccessful bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
In a report released on Thursday, the ethics committee cleared Qatar
over corruption allegations regarding its successful bid to host the
2022 World Cup and criticised England's failed attempt to host the
2018 tournament, which was awarded to Russia.
The England bid team is accused of having broken rules in its attempts
to win the support of disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack
Warner, who quit his role in 2011 amid bribery allegations.
But in a statement published on its website, the FA said: "We do not
accept any criticism regarding the integrity of England's bid or any of
the individuals involved.
"We conducted a transparent bid and, as the report demonstrates
with its reference to the England bid team's 'full and valuable
cooperation', willingly complied with the investigation.
"We maintain that transparency and cooperation around this entire
process from all involved is crucial to its credibility."
The FA added: "We also note that after a lengthy investigatory
process and assessment, the report has concluded that the
'potentially problematic facts and circumstances identified by the
report regarding the England 2018 bid were, all in all, not suited to
compromise the integrity of the FIFA World Cup 2018/22 bidding
process as a whole'."
FA chairman Greg Dyke, who was not involved in England's bid for the
2018 World Cup, said that his organisation had effectively been
penalised for cooperating with FIFA's investigators.
"Those (countries) who co-operated the most seemed to be the ones
that gave them the information by which they were then criticised,
like the FA," he told Sky Sports News.
"Others, who didn't co-operate, didn't get criticised at all. Well,
there's a surprise."
He added: "I don't think anyone will accuse the FA of anything other
than behaving properly."
'Whitewash'
The 42-page report was released by German judge Hans-Joachim
Eckert, FIFA's independent ethics adjudicator, following an extensive
investigation into the World Cup bidding process by American lawyer
Michael Garcia.
It alleges that in an attempt to "curry favour" with Trinidad and
Tobago official Warner, who was believed to control a block of FIFA
executive votes, the England bid team contravened bidding rules.
England 2018 is accused of helping "a person of interest to (Warner)
find a part-time job in the UK" and sponsoring a gala dinner for the
Caribbean Football Union at a cost of $55,000 (44,100 euros).
The report also says that the England bid team provided "substantial
assistance" for a Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 training camp that
took place in 2009.
"The (England) bid team often accommodated Mr Warner's wishes, in
apparent violation of bidding rules and the FIFA code of ethics," the
report said.
"England's response to Mr Warner's improper demands, in at a
minimum always seeking to satisfy them in some way, damaged the
integrity of the ongoing bidding process. Yet, such damage was again
of rather limited extent."
The report was branded a "whitewash" by British lawmaker Damian
Collins, who has campaigned for FIFA reform.
Collins, from the ruling Conservative party, told Britain's Press
Association: "It is a whitewash as it is an attempt to con people that
there has been a full and independent investigation when there has
not been.
"The result is that allegations of bribery and serious wrongdoing
remain unanswered and they are still suppressing the full report.
"The points being made about the England bid are just a smokescreen
to try to hide these facts."
The FA has previously called for more transparency in the World Cup
voting process and accused FIFA of not doing enough to eradicate
corruption.
- AFP
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