As Sick As A FIFA Shaggy Dog Story: Journalism Matters
MEET Roger Burden, the chairman of Gloucester Football Association and briefly Chairman of the England football controlling body the English version of the Beautiful Game.
Roger had a close-up and personal glimpse of the real world this week when he was part of England’s bid to host a World Cup Final. Last night he quit his temporary post since the scales have fallen from his eyes. The Beautiful Game has a lot of greedy and rapacious sharks. Roger does not like the fact he was promised votes which were not there and is disappointed his tame Royals were given a Right Royal shafting.
The Princes David (Beckham) and William (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Windsor-Battenberg or the new English version Mountbatten-Windsor take your choice they are all the same family) meant bugger-all to the assembled football giants set to divide the spoils of a World Cup Fest once again.
The very nice Roger, who was at the tail end of a £15 million bid to get the World Cup has quit screaming and spitting “Foul!!”
The acting chairman of the Football Association says he now “not prepared to deal with” Fifa executives in the wake of England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
In a letter to the FA board Roger said he was withdrawing his application for the role of chairman because he did not want to work with people he could not trust.
Mr Burden wrote:
“I recognise that an important part of the role is liaison with Fifa, our global governing body.
“I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust and I have withdrawn my candidacy.”
He was also quoted last night as saying that he wanted “nothing more to do with them (FIFA).”
Image: Prince William ….during his Eton days. He was taught to play up and play the game.
Pity really since he was warned by a double expose of the alleged corrupt and not at all nice way many of the FIFA members line their pockets by both The Sunday Times and the BBC’s Panorama which broadcast its claims immediately prior to the Fifa meeting.
The BBC’s investigation accused three Fifa executive committee members of accepting “corrupt” payments, and alleged that Fifa vice-president Jack Warner attempted to supply ticket touts.
This is not a British bid since the tiny islands which make up the UK have separate Football Associations with their own problems. In Scotland the game officials, referees and line-persons, are actually withdrawing labour striking over a penalty decision in a not very important or vital to the world’s starving millions game.
England’s office boss in the campaign bid to host the 2018 World Cup has (in true spitting the dummy out of the pram style) now says Fifa delegates believe the British media “killed” the bid.
Well good. At least it proves the point Anorak makes on its front pages. A strong and independent Press can batter down the walls of shame and prick a lot of balloons.
According to a Press Association report out late last night FA chief executive Andy Anson said:
“We have spoken to some executive committee members. And I’ll be very clear that what they are saying to us is one thing.
“I’ll caveat this by saying this is not our excuse at all. But they are saying to us that our media killed us.”
Great. Good again. Do you believe for one second Mr Anson was not aware this was a a rigged game? Britain (read England) is despised world-wide for its on-going military police actions.
Anson is said to have said:
“My only issue, as you know, with the Sunday Times and the BBC, and more the BBC, was the timing of it. For us, it was almost impossible to bounce back with three or four weeks to go.”
So Anson knew the game was rigged and felt the UK media had let him down,
Anyone of sound mind would have to side with the resigning FA (English) chairman on this one. Who wants to play the beautiful game when the result is already known. Russia was told two days before the meet they had won (allegedly.
Anson carried on:
“And then in the last week we actually knew that FIFA executive committee members were saying to us that our media is killing us.”
He said FIFA members had reneged on their promise of voting for England, but he refused to reveal any names.
He also called for extensive changes to the World Cup voting process. Only 22 of Fifa’s 208 national football associations were included in the ballot, and the voting patterns of individual delegates was kept secret.
“You have got to open it up to all the member associations. You’ve got to widen the electorate,” he said.
“For me, you should have transparency and open voting so that everyone knows who voted for whom, because I don’t believe that the secret ballot actually helps transparency at all and it leads to the situation we had yesterday where people promise you something and don’t deliver.”
Anson added:
“I still find what happened yesterday hard to understand and hard to believe.”
…and we can all assume he is as sick as a parrot. Terry. – AGW
Posted: 4th, December 2010 | In: Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
