By Andrew Warshaw
October 10 – Four days after Sport and Olympics Minister High Robertson described England’s doomed 2018 World Cup bid as the “biggest single failure” of his ministerial career, it was revealed today that the bid cost £6 million ($9.5 million/€7 million) more than everyone had been led to believe.
According to just-released Football Association accounts, the actual amount was £21 million ($33 million/€24 million), not the £15 million ($23.5 million/€17 million) that has been widely reported for months.
England gained just two votes in December including that of their own FIFA vice-president at the time, Geoff Thompson, despite campaign lobbyists criss-crossing the globe to try and garner votes at huge expense.
The FA accounts show that although net spending was £14 million ($22 million/€16 million), the total expenditure over two years was £21 million ($33 million/€24 million).
This was offset by some public money – local authorities from bidding cities provided £2.5 million ($4 million/€2.9 million) – plus a further £4.5 million ($7 million/€5.1 million) coming from sponsors.
Last week at the Leaders in Football conference in London, Robertson actually mentioned the £15 million ($23.5 million/€17 million) figure.
“When I look back on it now, I wish we had the gumption or the knowledge to realise at a very early stage that FIFA wanted something fundamentally different than what we were putting on the table,” he said.
“I wish we had had foresight to appreciate that earlier in order to stop the investment of £15 million.”
England’s spending per vote won was the highest of any bidding country apart from Australia, who forked out a monstrous £28 million ($44 million/€32 million) on their 2022 campaign and won just a single vote.
Both nations believe they were badly let down by FIFA voters who instead opted for Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022, intent on taking the World Cup to new territories but only making this clear after the ballot.
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