• World Cup 2018

World Cup voters blamed our media - Anson

Andy Anson, the chief executive of England's failed 2018 World Cup bid, revealed on Friday that potential voters told him the media had "killed" England's chances.

England were eliminated in the first round of Thursday's process, gaining just two votes, while Holland/Belgium secured four, Spain/Portugal seven and Russia nine in the first round.

Anson's immediate reaction was to accuse certain FIFA members of lying about the destination of their vote, claiming he was sure England had between six and eight backers. He also claimed Russia had been handed the World Cup despite having the worst technical bid.

In the colder light of Friday morning, Anson was given the chance to address the media with a more considered view, and he revealed that voters who had promised their vote, only to change their decision, had blamed the English media.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. Individual members promised to vote for us and didn't clearly," Anson stated. "That's difficult to stomach when they have given you assurances. It's difficult to look one or two of them in the eye I must admit.

"They are saying to us that our media killed us but I don't believe that for one minute, but that's what we are being told."

Anson's revelation is sure to point the spotlight at the BBC's Panorama programme, which alleged that three senior FIFA officials took bribes in the 1990s from sports marketing company International Sport and Leisure (ISL). Jack Warner, another member of FIFA's executive committee, was also accused of attempting to sell tickets for the 2010 World Cup on the black market.

Anson preferred not to focus on the impact of the media however, insisting Russia must have succeeded with late-night efforts to swing the vote.

"I still find it hard to understand what happened. Russia did a lot of last-minute lobbying and votes appeared to switch at the last minute - we know some switched in the early hours of the morning. We were not naive though, we knew that could happen, and David Dein and Simon Greenberg stayed up [lobbying until 5am]."

Having seen Australia and the USA fail with bids to win the 2022 World Cup, Anson was asked for his message to countries who are thinking about bidding for future tournaments.

"I would say right now, don't bother until you know the process has changed to allow bids like ours to win. When you have the best technical bid, a fantastic inspection visit, the best economical report and the best presentation, it's hard to stomach that it all counts for absolutely nothing."

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