Day Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Sports Minister Hugh Robertson has suggested England could break away from Fifa if it does not address allegations of corruption within the organisation. Former Football Association chairman Lord Triesman claimed four Fifa members sought "bribes" in return for backing England's failed 2018 World Cup bid. "There is a desire to try and work and change Fifa from the inside," Robertson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "If Fifa proves unable to do that, then I would say all options are possible." Triesman, a former chairman of England's 2018 bid, accused members of Fifa's executive committee of "improper and unethical behaviour" during the campaign process. During a parliamentary inquiry into England's failure to host the 2018 World Cup on Tuesday, Triesman alleged Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz, Brazilian Ricardo Teixeira and Thai Worawi Makudi sought "bribes" in return for backing England's bid. Fifa president Sepp Blatter has pledged to take immediate action if any evidence of wrongdoing is presented to football's world governing body. But Sports Minister Robertson has urged Fifa to adopt greater transparency in its bidding process and conduct similar internal reforms implemented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) following the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics campaign scandal. "The first thing is the allegations are brought to the attentions of Fifa and make sure that happens in concert with the FA," he said. "We have to back that up with evidence and I would hope Fifa follow the example of the International Olympic Committee, who went through a similar process after Salt Lake City. "There is nobody currently bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics who doesn't believe their system is fair and transparent - Fifa needs to be in the same position." However, in a subsequent interview with the Press Association, Robertson advised against canvassing support to re-stage the 2018 vote process. England were knocked out in the first round with only two votes when Russia were awarded the tournament, while Qatar were named 2022 hosts. "There is no practical chance of the process being re-run - that would be a huge admission of failure by Fifa," added Robertson. "I think we have to be honest as a country that Lord Triesman made these allegations in Parliament but they are going to be very difficult to actually prove because these were just conversations he had with individuals." Conacaf president Warner said he "laughed like hell" when he first learned of Triesman's allegations that he had asked for around £2.5m to build an education centre in Trinidad. "What is painful is that the FA spent £19m in a bid, 24 persons in the Fifa, one is from England, seven of whom from Europe," he told Trinidad publication Newsday. "If the other 16 persons were bad, how come the only vote they got is the Englishman's vote? How come not even one person from Europe voted for them? "And they're looking for all different reasons. Why don't they, in a dispassionate way, sit down and ask why not one European voted for them?" Warner said Triesman had been "unceremoniously removed" after resigning as the 2018 chairman following accusations of bribery by rival bidders Russia and his reputation has since been tarnished. "I hold my head tall because I can stand up and tell the world I never accepted anything. People who know me would be totally dismissive of that nonsense," he added. Meanwhile, IOC chairman Jacques Rogge says all claims of corruption made during the parliamentary inquiry should be backed "by solid proof". http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9482440.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Assuming Triesman is not making it all up, I wonder what Russia and Qatar promised to get the votes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcfcdavecov Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Well if you see expensive training facilities being built in Trinidad, it wasn't Dwight Yorkes money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaffsRam Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Triesman's probably right, but I doubt he'll have hard proof. Threatening a breakaway from Fifa is a little silly though, as it'll never happen. Would be great to see Jack Warner taken down a peg or two though. ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Hindge Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 It's our fookin game we will play it with who we want!!! We have done this before havent we??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggg Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 It would only need one to break away and others would quickly follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramekin Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Triesman's probably right, but I doubt he'll have hard proof. Threatening a breakaway from Fifa is a little silly though, as it'll never happen.Would be great to see Jack Warner taken down a peg or two though. ****. Not necessarily so silly. In that same report on the Today programme Robertson said he knew of several other countries who were considering breaking away from FIFA but they wanted to try to reform it first. Only if that failed would they go for the breakaway option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggg Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Not necessarily so silly. In that same report on the Today programme Robertson said he knew of several other countries who were considering breaking away from FIFA but they wanted to try to reform it first. Only if that failed would they go for the breakaway option. Thought as much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullspizz Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Well if you see expensive training facilities being built in Trinidad, it wasn't Dwight Yorkes money. When we went to the 2006 WC, a couple of the lads got tickets from the T+T FA for our game against them. Apparently, Warner secured the rights for all the ticket sales and then gave them to his son's holiday firm, who bumped them into a package. Loads of tickets were left unsold due to this and FIFA were aware, but just gave him a warning. Like Blatter, he is an odious creature who football should be glad to be rid of!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggg Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 snouts in the trough springs to mind:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcfcdavecov Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 When we went to the 2006 WC, a couple of the lads got tickets from the T+T FA for our game against them. Apparently, Warner secured the rights for all the ticket sales and then gave them to his son's holiday firm, who bumped them into a package. Loads of tickets were left unsold due to this and FIFA were aware, but just gave him a warning. Like Blatter, he is an odious creature who football should be glad to be rid of!!! Yeah, we stayed in Cologne....tickets were easier to get for the Portugal game in Gelsenkirchen on the street there than T+T...know why now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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