• World Cup 2018

England's World Cup bid 'effectively over'

England's bid for the 2018 World Cup is effectively over after BBC programme Panorama attacked FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou, insiders have told ESPNsoccernet.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced it will investigate allegations against Hayatou in what appears certain to cause further problems for the English bid. Panorama alleged Hayatou and two other FIFA officials voting on World Cup bids took bribes in the 1990s.

The IOC said in a statement: "The IOC has taken note of the allegations made by BBC Panorama and will ask the programme makers to pass on any evidence they may have to the appropriate authorities. The IOC has a zero tolerance against corruption and will refer the matter to the IOC ethics commission."

As a result, England's precarious bid can no longer rely on the vote from the Cameroon FIFA executive member.

An insider told ESPNsoccernet: "The FA were relying on three votes, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and of course we can be assured of Geoff Thompson voting for us, but there is not a chance that Hayatou will be voting for England now, and who can blame him? England's chances of landing the World Cup are effectively over as result of this Panorama programme.

"They excused themselves for screening this programme just three days before the vote that they would uncover corruption in FIFA, and all they highlighted was age old issues that we all knew about. If you're asking if Panorama has scuppered England's chances then the answer is yes, it has."

FIFA issued a statement, saying the allegations referred to events that had taken place before the year 2000 and had already been investigated by the Swiss authorities.

It read: "The matters concerning the case 'ISL/ISMM' which are referred to date back many years ago and were investigated by the relevant authorities in Switzerland. No FIFA officials were accused of any criminal offence in these proceedings. The investigation and the case are definitely closed."

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