Sour grapes. So much for a goodwill gesture from the mayor. Boo hoo.

I think Boris Johnson is probably the worst politician we have ever had in London.  He is an ignorant buffoon, and this latest little show of childish petulance is just one in a long line of embarrassments.  I realise that in this case, there does appear to be the possibility that there is corruption in FIFA, but it seems to always be the British reaction nowadays to blame any failure on someone else.  Why can we not just accept that we are NOT the wonderful country some would have us believe, and that many other nationalities just don't like the UK?

They shouldnt of been getting freebies in the first place.

Maybe he should offer them to a few of the homeless in London instead.

Outrageous that tax payers money was destined to be squandered in this way.   Makes you wonder how much more cash is wasted in a similar way.

It's certainly not sour grapes! FIFA have set the agenda by not only being corrupt but openly corrupt. They just don't care. I'm hoping for a European backlash but I daresay we won't be joining in with it. Too many of our hierachy are suggesting that we should fight within FIFA rather than without.

Hats off to Boris on this occasion.

Cracking Buttocks
Outrageous that tax payers money was destined to be squandered in this way.   Makes you wonder how much more cash is wasted in a similar way.

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Quite agree and I too wonder how much more tax payers' money is being squirrelled away to supposedly oil the wheels of commerce. 

Aside from that, this is one of the very few occasions where I agree with Boris's actions.

England and the FA should only do exactly what they are obligated to do by that corrupt free-loading cabal and nothing more.  I was pleased that the pointless friendly with Thailand was cancelled as well.  Hopefully, England can stop all these friendlies with Mickey Mouse football nations that seem to only serve the purpose of keeping the Fifa hierarchy sweet.

I found it a bit distasteful and unseemly to see the British PM and a future king trying to schmooze a bunch of corrupt old basterds in Fifa. 


As the OP says, Feck em!

I also agree with David Mellor's take (that makes two Tories I agree with! )

http://www.independent.co.uk/o...ul-play-2151551.html

Lol fair play to him, its a bit "I'm taking my ball back" childish but stuff it

Don't often agree with Boris but on this occasion I agree with the decision.  However, I don't think they should be offered freebies of this nature in the first place.  I understand free tickets to the games but free premier accommodation is disgusting.


I also found the schmoozing to these corrupt men by the PM and the future King very distasteful

Boris finally did something right (apart from the Boris Bikes)...and being in the forgotten suburbs of SW London....I would rather have Boris than bloody Livingstone any day

^^^this

We're not talking about a couple of nights at the Travel Inn on the M4 corridor, this is the bloody Dorchester. Why should the taxpayer stump up for a bunch of turds who thought this country wasn't worthy enough to even make it to the second round of voting to host an international event?

Blatter mentioning the BBC program before voting just proves how openly corrupt Fifa are (as Champagne Joe says).  You would think they'd want to prove that the BBC's points were unfounded more than anything else, but Fifa are knowingly self serving.  It's only a game after all, so there's no point getting too vitriolic but thank goodness the geriatric crooks at Fifa aren't in charge of running anything really important.

Incidentally, Cameron seems pretty quiet since he led the whole thing.  Interesting that we've not heard much from him.  All he did last week was jet off on a celebrity jolly to schmooze Fifa's crooks while his coalition partners were up to their necks in the tuition fees debacle and then had the nerve to accuse Ed Miliband of having not started his job yet!

And not to mention another 15million of taxpayers money down the drain that was spent on the campaign and the presentation. Wonder who's gonna make up that little deficit then? Hmmm?

Time and time again, if something doesn't go our way, we start flinging faeces all over the place. I see all these claims of corruption, and how we are hard done by, but let's get real for a moment. If you were a foreigner, would YOU vote for a World Cup in England? One of the worst countries/nations in the world for football hooliganism. I certainly wouldn't. It's only national pride that had me crossing my fingers, not the fact that we're fit to host.

If British football fans want a World Cup hosted in the UK, how about instead of pouring millions of pounds into campaigns, we actually do something about fixing our image first? Did a massive pitch invasion not just occur days before the vote? Brilliant. That's the spirit. *golf claps*

No you have it wrong. Totally wrong. There has been an zero tolerance for FIFA now for many years. You saw the Fick FUFA  shirts in the last competition for example. It's not just England who are complaining. The European leagues pour money into FIFA and their world-wide projects, and I think have  enough power to go it alone. We don't really need any of the other countries in a football competition.
At the 2006 competition FIFA sold all the rights to the usual suspects, who then told the Germans that they couldn't sell anything but Budweiser (   and so on. The Germans told them to take a running jump. One only had to take a short walk (if you knew the short cut) to the south of the AWD arena to see the procession of blond long legged, multi lingual ladies, tottering their way to the VIP area. and so on.

I am no way an expert but do we have many incidences of hooliganism now? It doesn't seem to ever make the news.

My understanding was that Spain and Italy are worse than us.

I'm sure they're more deserving and would certainly need shelter in this weather.

given that many Councils are selling off their sports grounds - wouldn't the £15million have been better spent on facilities to ensure grass route players are found and promoted up the ranks???

There's loads of things the 15 milly would have been better spent on tbh. I'm glad they didn't win it, look at the mess and extra cost the Olympic stadium has caused and there's still a year and a bit to go. Cameron was banking on a 15 mil investment with an approx 3 billion return (in 8 years time). Seems he doesn't mind investing in future projects and throwing the deficit at the British taxpayer to make up.

He's a cock.

mathematics,

Football hooliganism isn't like it was in the 70s and 80s but there will always be flair ups.  Hooliganism does exist in other countries and I seem to recall the European Championships in 1996 held in England went off without major hooligan trouble.  It's true we still have a problem with hooliganism but we're far from alone and also consider that our media are going to report our hooliganism before they report hooliganism on continent.

But what of Russia?  Is a country inferred by Wikileaks as a kleptocracy/virtual Mafia state and believed to be more corrupt than Nigeria, really the sort of country to be trusted with huge stadium building projects? 

If Russian TV had aired a program claiming Fifa corruption just three days before the Fifa vote, those program makers would be in prison or worse.

Qatar a country of 1.3 million with average June temperatures between 27c and 41c.  An alcohol dry nation with laws on equal/gay rights framed in hard line Islamic doctrine.  A country so hot in the summer that it's now suggested that the World Cup be held in January which is going to mess up seasons across Europe.  For what, so an oil rich country with a population smaller than Wales can chuck money at football and Fifa?

As a few are saying...............why on earth?      It seems like corruption all over the place

Oh aye