By Duncan Mackay in Zurich
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
December 2 -·Angel Maria Villar Llona, who has conducted a one-man campaign on behalf of Spain and Portugal’s joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup, today faced head-on allegations that they were involved in collusion.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 2 – Underdogs Holland and Belgium kicked off the 2018 World Cup presentations to FIFA today but lacked sufficient punch to suggest they might pull in extra support later in the day.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – The race to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cups reaches a nail-biting climax tomorrow with Spain/Portugal and England emerging as potential opponents for the final round of bidding for 2018 and the United States out in front for the latter tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – The nine bidders involved in tomorrow’s 2018 and 2022 World Cup ballots may never know how many votes they won and lost during the entire process.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – It started optimistically with phrases like “a true melting pot of passion, dreams and hope” and being the most diverse nation on earth.
By David Owen in Zurich
December 1 – There is no doubt about the biggest ‘Big Idea’ to have emerged during this 2022 World Cup hosting competition.
By David Owen in Zurich
December 1 – After the glitz and razzmatazz of their money-no-object campaign, the Qatar bid team treated FIFA’s top brass to a serious-minded presentation that was comparatively low on frills in Zurich this afternoon.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – South Korea used the prospect of better relations with the north of the peninsula to maximum effect when they made their final 2022 World Cup presentation to FIFA’s executive committee today.
By David Owen in Zurich
December 1 – Australia got today’s 2022 World Cup bid presentations off to an endearing start in FIFA’s home city of Zurich this afternoon, with supermodel Elle Macpherson (pictured) sharing top billing with a kleptomaniac animated kangaroo.
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The destination of the 2018 World Cup finals is about to be revealed in Zurich, and for my money that destination will be Spain-Portugal.
But however it turns out, there is no doubt in my mind where the 2022 finals are heading – the United States.
The US withdrew their bid for the 2018 World Cup because, according to the chairman of their bid committee, Sunil Gulati, they had no chance of winning it and they want to concentrate on bidding for the World Cup after that.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – David Beckham is convinced the World Cup momentum is swinging back in England’s favour as the odds on who will stage the 2018 and 2022 tournaments continued to fluctuate today.
December 1 – Japan’s 2022 World Cup Bid Committee has pulled out its ace by announcing that Sir Howard Stringer, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Sony Corporation, will join its final presentation to the FIFA Executive Committee today.
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By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – The numbers of voters at tomorrow’s double World Cup ballot will remain at 22 after Reynald Temarii dramatically refused to resign from FIFA’s Executive Committee leaving Oceania without a say in deciding the host nations for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
By Andrew Warshasw in Zurich
November 30 – FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou is threatening legal action against the BBC’s Panorama programme over their claim he accepted bribes.
The BBC’s Panorama programme told us nothing new about the 2018-22 World Cup campaign.
But it underlined the need for a changing of the guard in FIFA’s upper echelons.
World football’s governing body plainly has no intention of further investigating the nature of links between football officials and the ISMM/ISL sports marketing organisation which collapsed nearly a decade ago.