By Andrew Warshaw
April 5 – Andy Anson, the public face ofEngland’s failed 2018 World Cup campaign, declined to comment today on reports that he is close to being appointed a non-executive director of the British Olympic Association (BOA).
Anson gave a terse “no comment” when contacted by Insideworldfootball though sources confirmed that the BOA would be making an announcement “in due course.”
Anson, chief executive of England’s bid, has been involved in various consultancy projects since the December 2 vote that ended England’s hopes of staging the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
He is keen to run a business but not in any sporting arena as far as full-time employment is concerned.
Earlier this year the BOA advertised for two non-executive directors, one understood to be financial, the other commercial.
According to The Guardian, Anson, a former Manchester United commercial director, is being hunted for his commercial expertise, the BOA having made a post-tax loss in 2008 of £1.5 million ($2.4 million).
Anson, who would neither confirm nor deny his reported imminent BOA role, still believes the 2018 and 2022 World Cup corruption exposé orchestrated by elements of the English media ultimately did for England’s chances.
Two senior FIFA officials were suspended for their involvement in the bribery and collusion scandal but Anson declined to discuss the bid, however, when contacted by insideworldfootball, other than saying he no longer pored through media reports as he used to during those tireless and ultimately fruitless months of intensive lobbying.
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