Triesman Quits World Cup 2018 AND FA

[QPR Report]

As people probably saw elsewhere

BBC

Lord Triesman could quit 2018 bid team over bribe claim

Lord Triesman has been at the FA since 2007
The future of England's 2018 World Cup bid chairman is in doubt after a newspaper claimed he said Spain was planning to bribe World Cup referees.

The Mail on Sunday said Lord Triesman suggested Spain could end its bid to host the 2018 World Cup if rival bidder Russia helped bribe referees.

Triesman is also chairman of the Football Association.

The FA has so far refused to comment but BBC Sport understands the 2018 team has faxed apology letters.

BBC radio 5 live's sports news correspondent Gordon Farquar said he expects a "swift resolution" on the future of Triesman with decisive action possibly being taken on Sunday.

Farquar said: "Fifa, Spain and Russia will have a fax with an apology on it this morning. The 2018 bid team have been working through the night on this."

And on the future of Triesman he added: "there is no way he can survive this".

Apart from the damage to the standing of Triesman and the FA that may be created within the Fifa corridors of power by the Mail on Sunday's reported bribery allegation, the world governing body's rules prohibit World Cup bidders from talking about rival bids.

Triesman was quoted in the article as saying: "Spain are looking for help...to bribe the referees".

And Farquhar explained: "The FA did try and fail to get an injunction against publication of the story on privacy grounds.

"The story makes uncomfortable reading. The FA and 2018 bid chairman was seemingly unaware his unguarded comments in a private conversation were being recorded.

"Most damaging is his apparent speculation about possible collusion between Spain and Russia to bribe referees in South Africa.

"He reportedly suggests in return for Russian help in targeting officials, Spain could drop out of the race to stage the 2018 World Cup.

"There's likely to be a furious reaction from both the Spanish and Russian FAs and Lord Triesman is surely to come under considerable pressure to resign."

The revelations come just two days after former England captain David Beckham helped the FA submit a 1,752-page bid book as they try to persuade Fifa to award England the 2018 World Cup.

Fifa chief Sepp Blatter had already spoken in glowing terms of England's bid which includes 12 towns and cities from Sunderland to Plymouth, calling it "the easiest bid in the world" - but also described the plans put forward by Russia as "remarkable."

After the good publicity that was generated by the 2018 team and Beckham on Friday it remains to be seen what effect Triesman's reported comments are likely to have on the FA's 2018 bid.

From its inception the bid has been troubled by infighting with senior members resigning from the board while Triesman's leadership has also been questioned.

In October the 2018 bid was criticised by Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa's successful 2010 campaign.

A month later former Birmingham City director Karen Brady, who was one of six board members to stand down, said that England's hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup were in danger of being undermined by internal politics among the bid team

"There's been bickering, infighting and disruption," she told BBC Radio 5 live at the time.

In November a senior member of Fifa's executive committee returned a handbag given to his wife as a gift by the England bidding team.

Triesman is not the first senior figure to be embarrassed by a newspaper's reported revelations.

In 2004 chief executive Mark Palios resigned in the wake of the scandal over England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's affair with Faria Alam, a secretary at the FA.

The latest story was taken from a conversation Triesman reportedly had with a former civil servant aide.

The Mail on Sunday quotes Triesman as saying: "There's some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees...and pay them.

"My as-sumption is that the Latin Americans, although they've not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia."

A European bid is tipped to get the 2018 tournament with England up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.

The other bidders, although they are mainly focused on the 2022 tournament, are Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.

In the reported tape recorded conversation with former aide Melissa Jacobs, Triesman also talks openly about the John Terry scandal, the governance of Premier League football clubs and criticises former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's election campaign as "awful."

Triesman reportedly said ex-England captain Terry did not feel he had done anything wrong over his affair with former club and country team-mate Wayne Bridge's former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.

newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8685009.stm

[QPR Report]

Mail

FA chief Lord Triesman accuses Spain and Russia of bid to bribe World Cup referees
By Ian Gallagher
Last updated at 11:45 PM on 15th May 2010

England's campaign to host the 2018 World Cup was in chaos last night after the Football Association’s chairman accused Spain and Russia of planning to bribe referees in this summer’s tournament.

Lord Triesman, the former Government Minister who was given the job of trying to rebuild the FA’s scandal-hit reputation, made the extraordinary claim during an hour-long meeting with a former aide.

He divulged highly sensitive information about England’s 2018 bid – which he is leading – and, in what will be viewed as a disastrous lapse of judgment, accused rival nations of corruption.

Backing the bid: England appeared in good shape this week after David Beckham wooed FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the Bid Book Presentation, with Lord Triesman present
The 66-year-old Labour peer suggested that Spain may withdraw its bid to stage the 2018 finals if Russia, which also wants to host the event, helps it to bribe referees in next month’s World Cup tournament in South Africa.

The revelations come just two days after Lord Triesman and David Beckham formally presented England’s 1,752-page ‘bid book’ to Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, football’s world governing body.

The FA last night made a desperate attempt to secure a High Court injunction to prevent The Mail on Sunday publishing this story. But they abandoned the case after 90 minutes.

Lord Triesman made the corruption claims to Melissa Jacobs, a civil servant he employed as a private secretary when he was a Minister at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Affair: Melissa Jacobs says she had an intimate relationship with Lord Triesman in 2008

Miss Jacobs tells today how she went on a series of dinner dates with the peer shortly after he joined the FA in January 2008. She says their relationship became intimate, but she ended it after growing increasingly ‘uncomfortable’ about dating a married man. She later expressed her concerns on an internet blog in which she refers to the peer as Mr T.

Lord Triesman sent her countless affectionate texts. He described in one how he craved her company and said in another: ‘I need you’. He ended one message with ‘BKsAO’ – which 37-year-old Miss Jacobs said stood for ‘big kisses all over’.
After the relationship ended, they remained friends, and during their meeting at a restaurant in London two weeks ago, he appeared comfortable candidly discussing delicate subjects.

Lord Triesman, who sat alongside Prince William at the FA Cup final at Wembley yesterday, recounted how he clashed with Premier League bosses over foreign ownership of football clubs and accused them of ‘briefing against’ the FA.

He also talked about the John Terry scandal, when the Chelsea defender was stripped of the England captaincy after his affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.

‘I thought it was bad behaviour and very disruptive to the team,’ he said. ‘The rest of the players pretty much felt that.’

In his conversation, which was tape-recorded, he told Miss Jacobs that when England manager Fabio Capello summoned Terry for a dressing-down the player asked: ‘Can I see you at home or at Stamford Bridge?’, and Fabio replied: ‘You’ll be at Wembley at 10.’

Lord Triesman said: ‘I didn’t ask [Capello] what he thought but I knew exactly what he would do...and he didn’t have to ask me what I thought.’


High circles: Lord Triesman (left) was a guest, along with Prince William, and Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley
Suggesting Terry was in denial over the scandal, he added: ‘He doesn’t believe he did anything wrong at all. Doesn’t see it. His Mum and Dad tell him he didn’t do anything wrong...all his mates in Dagenham tell him [affecting a mock London accent], “You never done nothing wrong”.’

But most embarrassing – and damaging – of all Lord Triesman’s indiscreet remarks is his claim early on in the conversation that: ‘There’s some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees...and pay
them.’

Later, while discussing where England might find support for its bid for the 2018 competition, against the eight other nations hoping to host it, he repeated the bizarre claims.

‘I think the Africans we are doing very well with. I think we’re doing kind of well with some of the Asians. Probably doing well with Central and North America,’ he said.

‘My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they’ve not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia.’

At this point, Miss Jacobs asks: ‘Would Russia help them with that?’

Lord Triesman: ‘Oh, I think Russia will cut deals.’

Miss Jacobs: ‘Why will Russia help? Are Russia in the World Cup?’

Lord Triesman: ‘No, they’re not.’

Miss Jacobs: ‘Oh no they’re not, they’ve got nothing to lose?’

Lord Triesman: ‘Absolutely nothing at all to lose. Exactly.’
The allegations are likely to cause outrage in Spain, one of the favourites in this summer’s tournament.

To add to the embarrassment for the FA, the chairman of FIFA’s referees’ committee – which appoints referees and their assistants for the World Cup – is Angel Marua Villa Llona, president of the Spanish FA.

Treisman’s words will therefore be perceived as an attack on FIFA and the integrity of the game, even though there no suggestion that Villa Llona would be anything other than scrupulously fair when allocating officials. Last night the Spanish Football Federation was unavailable for comment.

Alexei Sorokin, director general of the Russian Football Union and head of the country’s World Cup bid for 2018, also refused do discuss Lord Triesman’s allegations. Sorokin has made it clear that he sees England as Russia’s main rival for the finals.

The Mail on Sunday has independently determined that the issue of corruption has been discussed at an FA sub-committee.


Accusation: Lord Triesman, a former Government minister, has labelled rival bidders corrupt
In his conversation with Miss Jacobs, Lord Triesman said he thought his ‘friendship’ with Michel Platini, the president of the European ruling body UEFA, would help England’s bid. ‘But there are people who are probably corrupt in Europe as well,’ he warned.

He added that he was told the Latin Americans have a ‘history of extraordinary corruption’ and claims that one representative of a Latin American country, who he doesn’t identify, appears to want an ‘honorary knighthood, which we can’t, which we’ll never give’.

Miss Jacobs asks him: ‘What, in order to vote for England he wants an honorary knighthood? I don’t think the Queen will be persuaded!’

Lord Triesman: ‘Utterly unpersuadable. I’m not even going to try...

‘When the French went for the World Cup they gave this bloke the Legion d’honneur and I guess that’s their equivalent, although they hand them out very much more freely than we do.’

For several minutes Lord Triesman expresses fears about English Premiership clubs falling into dubious foreign hands.

‘I keep saying a “fit and proper person” test is really really crucial and the Premier League leadership say, if you’re not convicted of something then it’s just your judgment about whether you like them or not.’ He said the League bosses were ‘totally dismissive of my argument’.
He added that he told them: ‘The logic of the argument if you take it to its logical conclusion is Robert Mugabe will never be convicted of anything in Zimbabwe, he runs it, he could own a club, he would pass the test. Nelson Mandela on the other hand was convicted of terrorist crimes, he doesn’t want it written off his record because he’s very proud of it. Mandela can’t own a club, Mugabe can.

‘They said, ‘Oh don’t be ridiculous”,’ he added.

During the conversation Lord Triesman, a known Blairite, also speaks at some length about Gordon Brown, describing him as a ‘weird guy’ and adding: ‘I always thought he’d be a disaster as a leader, I always thought that.’

Of the former Prime Minister’s Election campaign, he says: ‘I think Gordon’s been awful.’

Shunned: The John Terry (left) and Wayne Bridge scandal engulfed football earlier this year
Elsewhere, he speaks of Capello’s decision to impose limits on the time the WAGs can spend with the England squad during the finals.

Asked by Miss Jacobs if WAGs are banned, he said: ‘Completely.’

Miss Jacobs: ‘So what do the players think about that?’

Lord Triesman: ‘I think they’re kind of relieved, actually.’

Miss Jacobs: ‘Yes in a way you can understand that because they feel under pressure to keep them amused.’

Lord Triesman: ‘Mostly they’re going to stay in Sun City, which isn’t very far from Rustenburg [where the England squad is staying]. The ones who have got wives and girlfriends, some children there, think we should look after their security.’

Miss Jacobs: ‘What? They need security?’

Lord Triesman: ‘Well, the paparazzi – they do get quite aggressive, they don’t take no for an answer. I spent a period last year being pursued myself, it was a real pain, and every time I’m with Beckham it’s...’

Miss Jacobs: ‘Crazy?’

Lord Triesman: ‘Absolutely.’

As the FA’s first independent chairman, Lord Triesman was seen as a ‘new broom’ who could restore the organisation’s reputation after a series of sex scandals and allegations of mismanagement.

He is a former student radical, a one-time member of the Communist Party who later became General Secretary of the Labour Party, which put him into frequent contact with Tony Blair, with whom he is friendly.

Within months of taking over at the FA he outlined the organisation’s aims for the next four years in a grandiose mission statement.

In it, he said: ‘We know that football can be a great ambassador for the world of sport and the best social values that sport can inspire; learning, health, social inclusion and decent personal behaviour.

‘We are committed to the ethics of our sport; fair play and respect for the laws of the game, players and officials. If we start from integrity, we will find the best course for English football as a whole.’

But Lord Triesman has had a fractious relationships with some owners of Premiership clubs.

During the conversation with Miss Jacobs he said the owners ‘send their Press people out to brief against us. Every day, all the time, never stops.’

In another exchange he said he had come up against opposition to proposals to limit the number of foreign players at English clubs.

He said: ‘So when I say we’ve not got enough English youngsters coming through, which is true, and Arsenal is probably the worst example of the lot, Wenger [Arsenal manager Arsene] and I just disagree about this, which is fine.

‘I want a really strong England team from an even bigger pool of young English eligible players coming through.

‘The Americans [the Glaziers, owners of Manchester United] immediately understand us, they fly their flag on their front lawns...they get it, they feel like that about their country and they would be shocked if I didn’t feel like that about mine. So I get a lot more co-operation out of them than I do out of the English owners.’

Of England’s preparation for South Africa 2010, he said: ‘That’s going great, really great. Capello is fantastic, great choice. He knows in his head he’s gonna win it.’
The man supposed to bring sound judgment to the FALord Triesman took over at the FA at time when the organisation was in desperate need of a leader possessed of sound judgment. And by all accounts the ex-Government Minister was such a man.

All the more puzzling, then, that he should choose to go on a series of dinner dates with 37-year-old Melissa Jacobs, a civil servant nearly half his age whom he once recruited as a ministerial aide.

Wouldn’t this – if he was caught out – expose him to allegations that his judgment was slightly suspect? Especially since there was a chance, as it indeed transpired, that he might be called on to preside over the inevitable football sex scandals.

Miss Jacobs says they became intimate during a six-month period in 2008 when they frequently met, chatted and texted. But while Lord Triesman, who is married, concedes they did have dinner on a few occasions, sources close to him deny that the intimacy went beyond a ‘kiss on the cheek’ while dropping her off at her flat in Pimlico.

The texts he sent, however, indicate the relationship was at the least flirtatious. He calls her ‘honey’ and ‘darling’ and in one text, referring to a dinner date that evening, says: ‘Got held up by the PM! But its the next hurs [sic] I crave.’

Later she would recount details of their liaison on her blog, entitled The Labour Minister And I – Power Is The Ultimate Aphrodisiac. In it she refers to her old boss as Mr T but does not identify him.

Miss Jacobs met Lord Triesman, 66, in November 2007 when he interviewed her for a job as one of his three private secretaries in the team of civil servants who run a Minister’s office. She heard the same day she had been successful.

Bright and privately educated with degrees in economics and biology, she had previously been a civil servant in the Foreign Office.
Meetings: Lord Triesman meets with Melissa Jacobs at Paul Patisserie on Marylebone High Street
‘I thought he seemed very reasonable and good-natured character, and very knowledgeable and committed,’ she said. ‘But in all I only worked with him for about three weeks because just before Christmas it was announced he had been recommended for the FA job.

‘Around this time I went with one of the other private secretaries to take his red box to his house. He invited us in and we had a drink. He was really pleased, it was his dream job.’

After he departed in January, he began to exchange texts with Miss Jacobs. ‘I said in one text that it was a shame he had to leave. We got on well in the few weeks we had together, we had a similar sense of humour, just a bond of some sort.

'He asked if he could call me, and he did, and we had a very warm conversation and it lasted a long time. I think we discussed my new Minister because he knew her.

‘He ended it saying we must meet up and that he’d love to take me out for dinner. I found him very interesting. He is a man of some power and I guess there is some truth in that old cliche. I also love football. I’m a massive Arsenal supporter.’

They met in a pub, The Two Chairmen, in St James’s, Central London, on February 5, 2008, little more than week after he took the helm at the FA. ‘We had a pleasant time, and he paid me compliments,’ said Miss Jacobs. ‘His first was a little cheesy, something along the lines of “You’ve got incredibly beautiful eyes”. He said he noticed them during the interview.

‘We were only together for an hour-and-a-half and then he said he had to go. He kissed me on the cheek and said he’d give me a call.’

Steadying the ship? Lord Triesman is not the first to fall foul of a sex scandal
A series of texts and phone calls followed – including one message wishing her ‘Happy Valentine’s Day from a secret admirer’.

Over the next six months, according to Miss Jacobs, they met again around six to eight times.

She recalls the second date, at a restaurant in St John’s Wood, on her blog. ‘We said our goodbyes, and I went to bed feeling happy but at the same time a bit puzzled at my choice.

'What is the enduring appeal of a father figure? This man was the same age as my father. I didn’t even find him physically attractive, yet there was something drawing me to him so strongly that I didn’t even let the ring on his finger put me off.




Flirtatious: The text messages sent from Lord Triesman to Melissa Jacobs


'In many ways I hated myself. Yet I couldn’t hide my delight at the loving texts I received from him, and I couldn’t stop myself replying.’

On at least one occasion she teasingly raised with him the 2004 sex scandals when former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson and FA chief executive Mark Palios were both caught having affairs with secretary Faria Alam.

‘He just said the female staff at the FA said she was a real flirt but he didn’t comment on the two guys,’ she said.

She added: ‘It was at this meal that I think we held hands on the table at some point. He continued to pay me a lot of compliments, not only about my looks. He liked what he called my zest for life. I think he found me lively and we’d have challenging conversations.’

Miss Jacobs says it was she who brought the relationship to a close, though they would remain friends. ‘I don’t regret it because he was very interesting and intelligent.’

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2010/article-1278759/World-Cup-2010-FA-chief-Lord-Triesman-accuses-Spain-Russia-bid-bribe-referees-South-Africa.html#ixzz0o5585bRF

[Lonegunmen]

What a friggen dork.

[saphilip]

You said it Andy - the guy is a first prize idiot. In fact it is almost like this guy doesn't want England to host the 2018 WC and has found the best way to sabotage their bid.

And if that is his plan then I fear that he has succeeded. Many elements within FIFA dislike England - and the FA could have expected the S American Confed not to vote for their bid - but this is going to alienate many feds within UEFA, not to mention FIFA and some rather powerful spokemen.

I seriously doubt England will now win the bid - and that Becks will be wasting his breath when he tries to support England's bid during the WC in SA.

At the very least I would expect him to resign - for having his head in his ar.se and not being able to recognise reality if it hit him full in the face.

[QPR Report]

Give the job to Flavio!

[Lonegunmen]

Give the job to Gianni !

[QPR Report]

Update: Quits re England 2018. Stays on for now at least with FA

Financial Times

Lord Triesman quits World Cup bid
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent

Published: May 16 2010 12:29 | Last updated: May 16 2010 12:29

Lord Triesman resigned on Sunday from his role in England’s World Cup bid, bid insiders told the FT. England’s negotiators were up all night trying to salvage the bid.

England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup suffered a devastating blow after a newspaper claimed that it had a secretly taped conversation of Lord Triesman, Football Association chairman, suggesting that rival bidders Spain and Russia might collude to bribe world cup referees.

EDITOR’S CHOICE
FA chief resigns after less than a year - Mar-22Capello shelves player evaluation website - May-11England’s chances of World Cup glory - Apr-16Head of World Cup bid keeps job - Nov-12The 2018 bid was left reeling after the Mail on Sunday published the allegations in which Lord Triesman said “Spain are looking for help... to bribe the referees in the [2010] World Cup”.

Lord Triesman, formerly Labour’s general secretary and a government minister under Tony Blair, suggested that Spain, which has a joint bid with Portugal for the 2018 world cup, could then pull out of the bidding and swing its support by the Russian bid.

There was no comment from the FA, but the BBC reported that Lord Triesman was stepping down as chairman of the England’s bid committee. His position as FA chairman must also be in doubt.

The allegations, coming just two days after David Beckham joined Lord Triesman handed over Fifa England’s official bid in Zurich, must raise doubts as to whether he can retain the FA chairmanship.

Russia and the Spain/Portugal bid are England’s main rivals to be 2018 host. Fifa, which says bidders must not talk about their rivals, will make its decision in December.

England’s bid has been troubled by internal friction and resignations, but was thought to have got back on track and gathering momentum.

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/846534d2-60dc-11df-9bf0-00144feab49a.html

[QPR Report]

His Bio (BBC)

Spurs fan, ex-minister and FA chief

Lord Triesman's time at the FA has been dogged by negative publicity

When Lord Triesman was appointed as the Football Association's first independent chairman in January 2008, it was seen as key to the body's modernisation.

Long seen as a stuffy organisation, far removed from the common fan, its structural reforms gave the peer a vote on all matters put before the board - a right never afforded to his predecessors.

A former government minister, he was seen as an experienced head whose appointment was also aimed at freeing the FA from charges of bias.

Born David Maxim Triesman in October 1943, he hails from Tottenham in north London. A lifelong Spurs fan, he is patron of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, which promotes healthy lifestyles, education and community cohesion through sport.

Communist Party

As well as being a supporter, he also played, coached and refereed the game at local level.

Educated at the prestigious Stationers' Company's School, he went on to study at the University of Essex, before gaining an MA in philosophy at King's College, Cambridge.

A student radical, he was a member of the Communist Party for seven years in the 1970s before rejoining Labour and going on to become its general secretary.

He started his career in higher education, before becoming an influential figure in the trade union movement - eventually heading up the AUT lecturers' union.


The UK's World Cup bid has come under fire from Fifa
Lord Triesman was appointed a government whip in 2004 and later occupied ministerial positions at the Foreign Office and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, where he had responsibility for students.

However, as FA chairman he chose to change his status in the House of Lords to that of a cross-bench peer so that England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup would be "wholly outside any party politics".

Since becoming chairman, he has spoken of the need for better regulation of the English game to prevent club owners taking risks with their finances - angering many top clubs in the process.

Among his chief roles has been to head the World Cup bid. However, his leadership has been questioned amid claims that in-fighting has marred the process and led to the resignation of senior board members.

When FA chief executive Ian Watmore left in March, Lord Triesman said it was "genuinely unfair" to suggest he could have given him more support.

Handbags

The bid team came under fire for giving gifts of luxury handbags to the wives of all 24 members of Fifa's voting panel.

Last October, the 2018 bid was also criticised by Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa's successful 2010 campaign.

Both suggested the FA needed to give the bid a higher media profile and make more of England's footballing icons, such as David Beckham.

The star was eventually given the role of submitting the bid, which he fulfilled on Friday.

Lord Triesman has complained that the media has not been supportive enough of the bid process.

Now newspaper reports suggesting he was recorded claiming Spain and Russia were colluding to bribe World Cup referees have put Lord Triesman's stewardship of the bid in the headlines for the wrong reasons - leading him to agree to stand down from the bid team.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8685233.stm

[blockhead]

well done Mail, one for engalnd eh?

[QPR Report]

And a Q&A over the possible Implications re 2018 Bid

London Sunday Times

Sport Football MY PROFILE SHOP JOBS PROPERTY CLASSIFIEDS From Times Online May 16, 2010

Lord Triesman’s claims could have colossal implications, says Matt Dickinson
Times Chief Sports Correspondent Matt Dickinson delivers his verdict what today’s developments mean for 2018 World Cup bid. He talks to Ben Smith

(Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

4 Comments
Recommend? (5)
What now for Lord Triesman?

As we now know he has been forced to resign as chairman of the 2018 bid and I strongly suspect he is as good as gone as chairman of the FA.

The roles are slightly different but the comments he is alleged to have made are not just about the bid, but he also mentions John Terry and the furore around him being stripped of the England captaincy, which isn’t necessarily a huge revelation, but he will be embarrassed and will be very angry that this has been published.

One thing we should say is that this was a private conversation. But once it is out in the public domain there are bound to be consequences.

Related Links
FA chief quits over 'bribe tapes'
Capello vows: ‘I’m staying with England
Questions for Triesman as FA sends bid to Fifa
These allegations come just as the bid appeared to be getting back on its feet. Will this undo all that good work?

While some will feel sympathy for the damage this will do to Lord Triesman’s career, this potentially also has huge consequences for England’s World Cup bid in 2018.

The World Cup is a huge event and massive resources have gone into our bid to win it. The bid had just got back on track and was among the leading contenders to win the 2018 event before this news. Winning the World Cup would have massive implications on sport in this country and if this proves to be the moment that has significantly dented that bid, and there is a real danger of that, then the ramifications of one dinner and one tape-recorded could be pretty colossal.

The allegations Triesman has made are extraordinary? Are these claims something that have been around for a while?

No one doubts that the Russians have got massive resources to pour into their bid, but there have been nudges, winks, innuendos but mainly jokes about how they might use that money. But the specific allegation that Triesman has made about Spain and Russia is taking that to a whole new level.

Even if this claim is without any foundation whatsoever, which we must assume it is at this stage, it is bound to be extremely damaging, because it tarnishes two countries, it tarnishes Fifa and it tarnishes the World Cup itself. It is not a good one.

Will sacking Triesman be enough to save England’s 2018 bid?

Much as Triesman has taken personal charge of the 2018 campaign, it is not Lord Triesman’s bid. The FA and the bid team will swing into a very rapid salvage operation and attempt to distance themselves from his comments and from him. They will hope that will be enough to repair any damage this has done.

What are the consequences for the FA?

The FA does not have a chief executive at the moment and if by the end of the day it does not have a chairman either than we are back to a situation where we have a governing body that is paralysed by a lack of leadership.

The bid itself will move on but this does have big consequences for the FA, which everyone knows has struggled for leadership in recent years anyway.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7127957.ece

[klr]

Absolutely ridiculous thoroughly dishonest "gravy train" appointment that should clearly never have happened in the first place.

Good Riddance & well done to the Daily Mail, I reckon "Lord" Triesman should apply for a job at FIFA, he's dodgy enough.

[saphilip]

I wouldn't blame the Mail for this. They reported what they heard and whether it was privatye or not, they were inappropriate - especially for somebody in his position.

Looking at his credentials (or rather lack of them) I have to wonder how he got into this position in the first place. Patronage I guess.

[Lonegunmen]

Someone FFS tell Paladini there's a high paying vacancy for him to apply for!!

[cpr]

The mail set him up, W*nker yes but a setup W*nker.

I agree with blocky.

[QPR Report]

Update: Also quitting FA

BBC

Lord Triesman quits FA and 2018 World Cup bid jobs

Triesman was at Wembley on Saturday to watch the FA Cup final


Lord Triesman is to stand down as chairman of the Football Association as well as the England 2018 World Cup bid.

His exit follows what he has called his "entrapment" by the Mail on Sunday.

The newspaper article said he suggested Spain could drop its 2018 bid if rival bidder Russia helped bribe referees at this summer's World Cup.

The England 2018 team has apologised to the Russian and Spanish FAs as it tries to rescue the World Cup bid with a Fifa decision due in December.

FA board members David Sheepshanks and Roger Burden have been drafted in as acting joint-chairmen of England's governing body.

DAVID BOND'S BLOG
So where does this leave the 2018 bid? In short, they are going to find it incredibly difficult to recover from this

Vice-chairman Barry Bright will take on the role of acting chairman of the FA council and will chair this week's AGM.

The Mail on Sunday revelations came only two days after former England captain David Beckham had helped the FA submit a 1,752-page bid book as they try to persuade Fifa to award England the 2018 World Cup.

"I have decided to resign as chairman of the FA and the 2018 Bid board," Triesman said in a statement.

"A private conversation with someone whom I thought to be a friend was taped without my knowledge and passed to a national newspaper," he added, referring to former aide Melissa Jacobs, who met Triesman a fortnight ago.

"That same friend has also chosen to greatly exaggerate the extent of our friendship.

"In that conversation I commentated on speculation circulating about conspiracies around the world. Those comments were never intended to be taken seriously, as indeed is the case with many private conversations.

"Entrapment, especially by a friend, is an unpleasant experience both for my family and me but it leaves me with no alternative but to resign."

Triesman's resignation statement followed an FA board meeting that lasted over two hours.

"It would have been difficult for the FA to have sacked John Terry and for Triesman to have stayed on," said new Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, referring to England coach Fabio Capello's decision to strip Terry of the England captaincy over an extra-marital affair last year.

"I'm very impressed with the way it has been handled," Robertson told the BBC News channel. "The danger was this could have drifted on. I'm pleased they have acted decisively and they have done the right thing.

"Nobody could pretend that this hasn't been a good day. But the trick now is to refocus everyone's attempts on the bid. It can be done and if you concentrate on the bid's core strengths we can get over this."

Apart from the damage to the FA that may be created within the Fifa corridors of power, the world governing body's rules prohibit World Cup bidders from talking about rival bids.

Triesman was quoted in the article as saying: "Spain are looking for help...to bribe the referees".

On Friday, Fifa chief Sepp Blatter spoke in glowing terms of England's 2018 bid which includes 12 towns and cities from Sunderland to Plymouth, calling it "the easiest bid in the world" - but also described the plans put forward by Russia as "remarkable".

After the good publicity that was generated by the 2018 team and Beckham on Friday it remains to be seen what effect Triesman's reported comments are likely to have on the FA's 2018 bid.

From its inception the bid has been troubled by infighting with senior members resigning from the board while Triesman's leadership has also been questioned.

In October the 2018 bid was criticised by Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa's successful 2010 campaign.

A month later former Birmingham City director Karren Brady, who was one of six board members to stand down, said that England's hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup were in danger of being undermined by internal politics among the bid team.


Beckham delivers 2018 World Cup bid
In November a senior member of Fifa's executive committee returned a handbag given to his wife as a gift by the England bidding team.

The FA tried unsuccessfully to get an injunction against publication of the Triesman story on privacy grounds.

The Mail on Sunday quotes Triesman as saying: "There's some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees...and pay them.

"My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they've not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia."

But in his statement Triesman said: "The views expressed were not the views of the 2018 bid board or the FA.

"Nobody should be under any misapprehension that the FA or 2018 bid board are disrespectful of other nations or Fifa and I regret any such inference that may have been drawn from what has been reported."

A European bid is tipped to get the 2018 tournament with England up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.

The other bidders, although they are mainly focused on the 2022 tournament, are Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.

In the tape-recorded conversation with Jacobs, Triesman also talks openly about the John Terry scandal, the governance of Premier League football clubs and criticises former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's election campaign as "awful."

Triesman reportedly said ex-England captain Terry did not feel he had done anything wrong over his affair with former club and country team-mate Wayne Bridge's former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.



newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8685009.stm

[QPR Report]

Thinking: The guy obviously should go. The Mail should publish. But what kind of person tapes someone private conversation and then goes to the paper

[QPR Report]

Reuters

Thompson takes over as 2018 chair
Reuters -

- England's 2018 World Cup bid team moved quickly to fill the hole left by the resignation of chairman David Triesman on Sunday, naming former Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson as his replacement.

Thompson, a vice-president on both the FIFA and UEFA executive committees, is an experienced international football administrator and was chairman of the FA from 1999 to 2008.

NEWS: Triesman resigns as chairman

"Following the unanimous approval of the Football Association Board, Geoff Thompson has tonight been confirmed as the new Chairman of England 2018," a statement said.

He is already a key player in England's bid to host the World Cup for the first time since 1966 and was part of a five-man delegation that presented the bid book to FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Friday.

Triesman resigned as FA and 2018 bid chairman earlier on Sunday after a secretly recorded private conversation with a former colleague was published in the Mail on Sunday.

NEWS: Triesman slip of tongue rocks English game

The 66-year-old was reported to have suggested that Spain and Russia, two rivals bidders for the 2018 World Cup, were involved in a conspiracy to bribe referees at next month's World Cup in South Africa.

London's Olympic organising committee (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe may also play a more high-profile role in the 2018 bid.

"This has been a very unhappy episode," Coe, an avid Chelsea fan, was quoted by website Inside the Games on Sunday.

"But nothing changes. We have the best bid, the best fans, the best stadiums. The only thing that has changed is that we don't have the private views of the previous chairman."

fourfourtwo.com/news/england/54323/default.aspx

[froggyranger]

bloody idiot but i can't help feeling that the mail stooped pretty low, the uk press seem to love trying to dent british sporting hopes and achievements whenever they can just in order to sell a few more papers.

[klr]

Surely it dents British sporting hopes by appointing someone like "Lord" Triesman in the first place ?

Who is he & why was he ever appointed in the first place ??

Will The FA ever learn ??

Absolutely farcical organisation.