Lord Triesman to reveal 2018 World Cup bid details
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Football Association chairman Lord Triesman will today give the inside story of England's failed 2018 World Cup bid when he comes before a committee of MPs.
Triesman, who was forced to step down as both FA and England 2018 chairman a year ago after taped conversations about the bid were reported in a Sunday newspaper, will give evidence to the Commons' culture, media and sport committee.
Although Triesman was not involved for the final six months of the bid, he is expected to lift the lid on some dubious requests made to the bid team.
The peer is expected to be asked about claims that one FIFA member demanded a knighthood and that FIFA vice-president Jack Warner asked England to build an education centre in Trinidad.
The committee will also hear from Mike Lee, the London-based public relations consultant who worked on Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid.
Lee, formerly communications director of the Premier League, UEFA and the London 2012 Olympics bid, has previously been scathing about some aspects of the England bid.
Meanwhile, FA chiefs are considering whether to axe funding to three of Africa's poorest countries after a review of overseas projects following the failed 2018 World Cup bid.
An FA board meeting will decide next week on the budget and strategy for international development, with high-profile relationships with Malawi, Lesotho and Botswana under threat.
The FA decided to review their international projects after the 2018 debacle in December where England won just two FIFA votes, one of those coming from English vice-president Geoff Thompson.
Walter Nyamilandu, head of the Football Association of Malawi, said all FA assistance had been cancelled.
He told The Nation newspaper: "They [England] are saying that they are reviewing their support towards development of football in the light of the poor support they received during the 2018 World Cup bid.
"According to the FA, they took the decision because they felt FIFA was not recognising the support they were giving to the game of football. Their services are greatly missed."
Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and David James have all visited Malawi on behalf of the FA to boost development projects, England manager Fabio Capello has been to Lesotho, while Paul Gascoigne was part of an FA visit to Botswana.
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