By Tom Degun
June 1 – Mike Lee, the former communications director of London 2012 and arch-strategist behind a series of successful World Cup and Olympic bids, has written a letter to the English Football Association on how to improve their impoverished international standing in world football.
The FA was embarrassed in its attempt to bring the 2018 World Cup to England last year when the country went out in the first round of voting after gaining just two nominations from the FIFA Executive Committee, while their last minute call to postpone the FIFA Presidential election was largely ignored by other national football federations.
Lee, who was last month asked to give evidence in the on-going Parliamentary inquiry into football governance at a one-off session on why England performed so poorly in their 2018 World Cup bid, was not part of the team that led the failed £15 million ($25 million) bid but played a significant role in Qatar’s shock landslide 2022 victory.
According to reports in The Daily Telegraph, Lee has urged “the FA, in conjunction with the Premier League, to conduct a thorough review of their activities within UEFA and FIFA in order to clarify the most effective and strategic use of English football representatives.
He continues: “This review should also identify the key committees and working groups within both UEFA and FIFA where English football’s voice can be most usefully heard and agree a target list of tournaments and events, including Congresses and seminars, that might be hosted in England over the next 10 years.
“The FA should open a debate on the future of the guaranteed places for the Home Countries on the International Football Association Board as well as the British vice-presidency of FIFA.
“These are out-dated positions of privilege and understandably a source of quiet resentment in many other parts of the world.
“The FA should set out a 10-year plan for their international development programme.
“I understand that a review is underway and this may well include cutting budgets and closing down projects in Africa.”
Lee, who also worked on Rio de Janeiro’s campaign which saw them awarded the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, wrote the letter before FIFA became embroiled in the on-going scandal regarding corruption among key Executive Committee members including FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and one-time challenger to Sepp Blatter for the FIFA Presidency Mohamed Bin Hammam, who are provisionally suspended from football’s world governing body.
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734798104labto1734798104ofdlr1734798104owedi1734798104sni@n1734798104uged.1734798104mot1734798104