England’s World Cup bid chief executive Andy Anson claims he was lied to by members of FIFA’s executive committee.
England’s dream of hosting the 2018 tournament came a humiliating end on Thursday, receiving just two votes, as Russia were awarded the event.
A rousing presentation earlier in the day from Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and former Three Lions captain David Beckham had boosted hopes that the World Cup would be held in, as FIFA president Sepp Blatter called it, “the motherland” of football.
But it was the Russians who were celebrating when Blatter made the official announcement, and it later emerged that the English bid had shockingly gone out of the running in the first round.
Anson said: “David Dein, myself, David Cameron, David Beckham and Prince William were looking people in the eye and asking them for their vote and being told ‘yeah’. I am not else you could do.”
He added: “I am not going to name names because that is not fair on individuals but clearly some people have (lied to us). We thought we had more than six votes, perhaps seven or eight.
“The technical report is £3m down the drain by the looks of it. We spent £3m on it and it was the best one. The two bids with the worst technical reports won.”