‘Bribery’ talk hurts England bid

Triesman, left, hands over the bid book with David Beckham on Friday [GALLO/GETTY]

A bleak day for English football ended with their 2018 World Cup bid badly damaged, the Football Association in chaos and chairman David Triesman forced to resign after a newspaper sting in which he is taped claiming a Spanish bribery conspiracy.

Triesman, who on Friday stood beaming next to the nation’s golden boy David Beckham as England’s glossy 2018 bid brochure was presented to Fifa boss Sepp Blatter in Zurich, was left with no option but to quit as chairman of the FA and the World Cup bid.

He added however that he was snared by what he described as “entrapment”.

The 66-year-old enjoyed the company of Prince William at the FA Cup final on Saturday, but a few hours later discovered his name splashed over the front page of the Mail on Sunday and his career as a football administrator in ruins.

Unhelpful aide

In extracts of a secretly recorded private chat with Melissa Jacobs, a former aide from his time as a government minister, Triesman claims that Spain and Russia, rival bidders for the 2018 World Cup, were conspiring to bribe referees at next month’s finals in South Africa.

“A private conversation with someone whom I thought to be a friend was taped without my knowledge…Those comments were never intended to be taken seriously” Lord David Triesman, former FA chairman

Letters of apology were sent by England 2018 team to their Spanish and Russian counterparts as well as governing body Fifa as bid chiefs attempted to limit the damage to a campaign that on Friday seemed firmly back on track after some high-profile difficulties in the past.

In a statement Triesman, who was seen as a safe pair of hands for an accident-prone organisation when he became the FA’s first independent chairman, confirmed he had resigned after little more than two years in the post.

“A private conversation with someone whom I thought to be a friend was taped without my knowledge and passed to a national newspaper,” Triesman said in the statement issued by the FA after a hastily convened Board meeting at Wembley stadium on Sunday.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

While Triesman’s opinions on Chelsea’s John Terry, stripped of the England captaincy after his own tabloid scandal, were quite harmless, his claims, albeit private ones, about Spain and Russia made his position untenable.

‘Bribe refs’

Triesman appears to suggest that Spain would consider dropping out of the race to host the 2018 World Cup to boost Russia’s bid chances if the Russians, who failed to qualify for next month’s finals, helped bribe referees.

Russia’s bid team have been unimpressed by the revelations [EPA]

“I think the Africans we are doing very well with,” Triesman is reported to have said in the most damaging chunk of the extracts.

“I think we’re doing kind of well with some of the Asians. Probably doing well with Central and North America.

“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.”

The FA said it had accepted Triesman’s resignation and moved quickly to fill the vacuum, appointing David Sheepshanks and Roger Burden as joint acting chairmen.

Britain’s newly-appointed Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said Triesman’s decision to resign was correct.

He said the strength of England’s bid to host the World Cup for the first time since winning it on home soil in 1966 meant it could emerge from the mess relatively unscathed.

“It’s sad for him personally but is absolutely the right decision to take,” he told the BBC.

“Our top priority as a new government is to win this bid for the country and I am delighted they have acted quickly and decisively.”

While Spanish officials remained silent, Russia responded to having their reputation soiled by calling on Fifa’s ethical commission to deal with the situation.

“From the very beginning we’ve been committed to maintaining the ethical norms and the principles of fair play in our World Cup campaign,” bid chief executive Alexei Sorokin told the Reuters news agency.

“I don’t know why there are so many rumours regarding Russia’s World Cup bid. Maybe because we’re moving in the right direction and our rivals see us as a major force and try to derail our bid campaign.”