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FIFA confirm World Cup decision date to go ahead as planned

29 October 2010 22:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. FIFA have confirmed they will retain the December date to announce who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals after the bidding process was dogged by allegations of corruption, APA reports quoting CNN.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed the decision will be revealed as planned on December 2 despite two committee members being suspended for allegedly offering to sell their votes.
But he did acknowledge his idea of having the two processes running at the same time was flawed -- something he said he took full responsibility for.
"We are five weeks from the final decision so there was never a question of changing anything," Blatter told a press conference. "So on December 2 the FIFA executive committee will decide in a secret ballot the hosts for 2018 and 2022."
Amos Adamu, director of sports development in his native Nigeria, and Reynald Temarii, president of the Oceania Football Confederation, were suspended by FIFA earlier this month after a story appeared in the British newspaper The Sunday Times.
The article was headlined "World Cup votes for sale," and in it the paper claimed to have approached six current or former FIFA officials, all of whom "suggested paying huge bribes to FIFA executive committee members." Two of the six asked for direct payment themselves, the paper reported.
This is an uncomfortable situation for FIFA but we have the necessary instruments to react properly.

A decision on Adamu and Temarii’s future will be made on November 17 and Blatter confirmed that if both are eliminated from the process, then only 22 FIFA executives will cast their vote instead of 24.
There have also been allegations that Spain and Portugal, who are in the running to host the 2018 tournament, have struck a support deal with Qatar, who are bidding for 2022. This has subsequently been denied by both parties.
Spain and Portugal are in contention with England, Russia and another joint bid from the Netherlands and Belgium to host the 2018 World Cup, while the United States, Australia, and Japan and South Korea are vying with Qatar for 2022.
"This is an uncomfortable situation for FIFA but we must say that inside FIFA we have the necessary instruments to react properly," Blatter added.
"The ethics committee are addressing a case that involves allegations of possible corruption. We will deal with them according to current regulations. If and when people are suspended for the vote on December 2 they will not be replaced.
"We talk about fair play but this sporting behavior doesn’t just need to be in sport but in media activity. I think that we should have good sportsmanship through the world and it should include all members of society."
Meanwhile, the chairman of Russia’s 2018 bid, Vitaly Mutko, has publicly apologized to his English counterparts after derogatory comments attributed to a member of his team.
Alexei Sorokin, chief executive of Russia’s bid, was quoted as saying London had a high crime rate and problems with youth alcoholism, which led to an official complaint by England’s bid team.
But that was withdrawn after Mutko apologized to his opposite number Geoff Thompson prior to a FIFA meeting at their headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.