It seems as though, after months of no action, the 2018 World Cup bid is suddenly all-action.
You bet. It appears that the disclosures by The Times that the bid for what could be the richest World Cup was steaming for the rocks concentrated minds on the bridge, leading to last night’s changes in the structure of the bid team.
What caused the shake-up?
Lord Coe, the chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, was among the first to raise the alarm. And he knows a fair bit about winning bids for big sporting occasions. His worries and a clamour of criticism left Lord Triesman, the bid chairman and chairman of the FA, with no alternative but to act — and he did.
With so many criticising him, maybe he should have resigned.
Advertisement
No need to. For a start, Fifa, which will decide who gets to host the 2018 tournament, expects the FA chairman to lead his nation’s bid. But one of the secrets of good leadership is listening and you cannot say Triesman did not take notice. The question is whether this strengthens his position in the eyes of Fifa.
So who is in and who is out?
Arguably, the most significant appointment is Geoff Thompson, the former FA chairman, who was on the sidelines, even though he is a Fifa vice-president and, therefore, an important player when it comes to the key vote next year. He is brought on to the board alongside Triesman; Lord Mawhinney, the Football League chairman; Coe; Andy Anson, the bid chief executive; Paul Elliott, the former Aston Villa and Chelsea defender — oh, and Sir Dave Richards, the chairman of the Premier League.
Why, oh, and Sir Dave?
Because there are clear signs of mended fences. Triesman fell out with Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, when he accused clubs of overspending and running up huge debts. Looks as if the Premier League is now onside, though. Last night’s meeting was even held at the Premier League’s London headquarters.
Advertisement
So who is out?
Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, steps back, which deals with one of the biggest criticisms, that too many politicians were involved, although he will meet Triesman weekly to discuss the bid. And Richard Caborn, the Prime Minister’s official observer, takes a back seat, even though many say he would have loved to have been a board member.
But won’t this damage attempts to get the Government to hand over £5 million to finance the bid?
We wonder. Caborn was furious that the Government was seen as back-pedalling on its initial enthusiasm for the bid after it was revealed that ministers had offered a £2.5 million loan instead of a grant that would still have been half the size of that handed to the Olympic bid. He says that the £2.5 million loan will be joined by £250,000 from each of the dozen host cities — which easily makes up the £5 million from the public purse and more. Plus, the Government has to offer guarantees on matters such as security, worth another £500 million. In fact, he said: “We are annoyed that we are being accused of not being behind the bid. It is simply not true. Gordon Brown has been behind the bid from the start and has not wavered.”
But still no £5 million grant to back the bid?
Advertisement
No.
Oh. But good news anyway now. A leaner, meaner board, better focus and more urgency, then.
We sincerely hope so. And a little good news for once. Marios Lefkaritis, a Fifa executive member and vice-president of Uefa, believes that England are still in with a good shout of winning the bid, in spite of all the shenanigans. “With some countries you don’t need a special message,” he said yesterday. “They know what they need to do.” It could be that the events of last night are the start of the England 2018 World Cup bid finally realising what has to be done to win.