Indeed, the Spanish press reaction was telling, with many a ‘I told you so’ piece, apparently happy that their conspiracy theories had found international acceptance. If this means extra security and scrutiny on FIFA match officials and the activities of the referees’ committee chairman, Spaniard Angel Maria Villa Llona, so much the better.
The wider impression is one of FIFA being a clandestine cult unwilling to let the light of modern transparency enter its inner play bazaar sanctum. Investigative journalists who have taken them on already, like Andrew Jennings and David Yallop, are doubtless frolicking in the fields as we speak.
Frankly, few thought Triesman’s claim impossible; why would be invent such a tale unless he had picked up on a rumour? Cutting deals in a vote like this, with rounds of knock-out, is what it is all about. Once the choice is whittled down to two nations e.g. England and Russia, where are the votes which went to all the other bidders going to go? It pays to do your homework, surely.
It is still too early to judge, but the FA might well survive this storm and go on to win the vote in December. It acted sharply in booting out Triesman and getting Sebastian Coe, whom Soccerphile revealed a while ago to have football ambitions, on the phone to Sepp Blatter. Geoff Thompson, Triesman’s replacement, is a trusted FIFA man, although David Dein seemed a more obvious choice with his connections and power-broking abilities.
If a week is a long time in national politics, a month or so probably is in the corridors of footballing power.
satta matka 