World Cup bid ‘is in the bag for England’

The England delegation relayed their meeting with Jack Warner and his team to Channel 4 News’ Keme Nzerem in Zurich this afternoon.

However, they urged a healthy scepticism, adding: “But perhaps they say that to everyone”.

Despite the note of caution, it added to the general feelgood buzz surrounding the bid team today.

Earlier Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced he would not to travel to Fifa headquarters in Zurich. President Putin, who said First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov would attend the ceremony instead, said Russia had faced “unscrupulous competition,” referring to the BBC Panorama documentary which aired on Monday.

Meanwhile, Fifa vice-president Issa Hayatou has insisted that bribery allegations made against him would not influence his vote.

However, the Russian bid remained the favourite at the time of writing, with bookmakers still regarding the England as second favourite, the joint Spain/Portugal bid as third favourite and the joint Netherlands/Belgium bid as a very long shot.

Fifa’s executive committee members will cast their votes tomorrow with the result due to be announced at around 3pm.

England’s bid team in Switzerland includes Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron as well as midfielder David Beckham, who said they had lobbied tirelessly for votes today.

Beckham lobbies for votes

Beckham, an England bid vice-president, told a news conference this afternoon that the final hours of the process can be the most influential.

“The last 24 hours can be the most important without a doubt,” he said.

“I think the momentum is out there now, people have focused on the negative side of what has been said and we now are focused on the positive side.”

Beckham was referring to the fallout over the Panorama programme, which alleged that three Fifa executive committee members – Issa Hayatou, Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz – have previously taken bribes.

But Beckham said that the documentary would not have a negative effect on the England bid, despite being made by the BBC.

“I think we can trust every one of the members. At the end of the day they are football people,” he said.

“They are going to want a World Cup in the best country that they think could host the biggest sporting event in the world. Without a doubt we can trust them.”

In fact Hayatou, from Cameroon, was one of five members the England bid team met with today.

He denies ever taking bribes and is expected to launch legal proceedings against the BBC.

Today he said the programme would not influence his vote.

“There is a big difference between Panorama and my relationship with the England bid,” he said.

“There is no confusion in my mind.”

The England team also met with Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Chuck Blazer (USA), Rafael Salguero (Guatemala) and Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar).

Putin pulls out

Putin’s decision not to travel to Zurich, due to the broadcast of the Panorama programme, came as a big surprise.

He explained the decision to ministers in Moscow, saying: “We have unfortunately witnessed a campaign against members of the Fifa executive – filth and compromising material has been poured over them.

“I see this as unscrupulous competition ahead of the vote.

“I would have liked to have gone myself but under these conditions, I have decided to refrain from travelling out of respect for the members of Fifa, so that they can make a decision calmly without any pressure from the outside.”

World Cup 2022

Fifa will also choose the hosts for the 2022 World Cups on Thursday.

The US, Qatar, Japan, South Korea and Australia are all bidding to stage the tournament.

Portugal Prime Minister Jose Socrates and Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero were named as leaders of their joint bid for 2018, with Spain’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas also among the delegation.

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been unable to attend because he needs treatment on a bruised ankle.

The Dutch-Belgian bid for 2018 included former players Ruud Gullit and Johan Cruyff as well as the two countries’ prime ministers.

Former US President Bill Clinton was to lead the American delegation bidding for 2022, heading a committee which also included actor Morgan Freeman.

The winner will be the bid which obtains 50-percent-plus-one of the votes of the 22 executive committee members present.

There were originally 24 voters, but two Fifa members – Reynald Temarii of Tahiti and Amos Adamu of Nigeria – were suspended following an investigation into reports that they offered to sell their votes to undercover reporters from the Sunday Times newspaper.

If no bid achieves an absolute majority, the bidders with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and a new round of voting will take place.

If the voting comes down to the last two bids and there is a tie, FIFA president Sepp Blatter will have the casting vote.