Triesman bribe claim dents England World Cup bid

ENGLAND’S hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup were dealt a blow yesterday after chairman for their bid David Triesman stood down from his post following allegations he accused the Spanish and Russian football federations of bribery.

The 66-year-old peer, who also vacates the same role with the FA, announced his decision following a hastily arranged meeting with the FA board at Wembley yesterday.

The meeting was called in the wake of allegations made in the Mail on Sunday, which suggested Triesman told a former aide that Spain were planning to bribe referees at this summer’s World Cup and offer their support to Russia’s bid for the 2018 World Cup if they were to help.

The England 2018 World Cup bid team faxed letters of apology to both associations yesterday morning as they attempted to minimise the damage caused. FA board members David Sheepshanks and Roger Burden have been drafted in as acting joint chairmen of the FA, but as yet there is no replacement for Triesman as chairman of the World Cup bid. His departure from the FA also comes just two months after Ian Watmore’s surprise resignation as their chief executive.

“I have decided to resign as chairman of the FA and the 2018 Bid board,” Triesman said in a statement.

“A private conversation with someone whom I thought to be a friend was taped without my knowledge and passed to a national newspaper.

“That same friend has also chosen to greatly exaggerate the extent of our friendship.

“In that conversation I commentated on speculation circulating about conspiracies around the world. Those comments were never intended to be taken seriously as indeed is the case with many private conversations.

“The views expressed were not the views of the 2018 bid board or the FA. Nobody should be under any misapprehension that the FA or 2018 bid board are disrespectful of other nations or FIFA and I regret any such inference that may have been drawn from what has been reported.

“Entrapment especially by a friend is an unpleasant experience both for my family and me but it leaves me with no alternative but to resign.”

FIFA are yet to comment. However, the chief of Russia’s bid, Aleksey Sorokin, has called for football’s governing body to “take appropriate measures”.

“It is a sign that we are going in the right direction, that the quality of our bid leaves no other alternative for our competitors but to bring up these absurd allegations,” Sorokin said.

“We hope FIFA will take appropriate measures itself without our motions.”