Sepp Blatter, the illustrious former head of the World Society of the Friends of Suspenders, has given a real belter of an interview to the Russian news agency, TASS.
As can be gleaned from the phrasing of the questions, the interviewer is in complete harmony with Blatter on many of the important questions, particularly those relating to the jealousy of the Brits and the Americans.
This is presumably not unconnected to the fact that TASS is owned by the Russian government.
Blatter's tongue was certainly liberated by his sycophantic interviewer. He has less to lose these days, and is in the mood to do some serious damage to his many enemies within football governance, most notably Michel Platini.
In the interview, he decided to inflict the maximum degree of damage on Platini. In doing so, he has managed to wind up the citizens of England, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
The FA spent £15 million in their attempt to bring the World Cup to England in 2015. In addition to this, local councils across England spent a total of £2.1 million in bidding for individual games.
The BBC reported at the time that the council of Sunderland spent no less £421, 584 in attempting to help the English bid.
Now, it has emerged that this was a gigantic waste of money. The whole thing was stitched up from the off.
Blatter almost blithely revealed that he and his colleagues had agreed in 2010 that Russia would receive the 2018 World Cup while the USA would get the 2022 World Cup.
In 2010 we had a discussion of the World Cup and then we went to a double decision. For the World Cups it was agreed that we go to Russia because it’s never been in Russia, eastern Europe, and for 2022 we go back to America. And so we will have the World Cup in the two biggest political powers.
And everything was good until the moment when Sarkozy came in a meeting with the crown prince of Qatar, who is now the ruler of Qatar. And at a lunch afterwards with Mr Platini he said it would be good to go to Qatar. And this has changed all pattern.
There was an election by secret ballot. Four votes from Europe went away from the USA and so the result was fourteen to eight. If you put the four votes, it would have been twelve to ten. If the USA was given the World Cup, we would only speak about the wonderful World Cup 2018 in Russia and we would not speak about any problems at FIFA.
Clearly, the thought that the countries who had spent fortunes preparing unsuccessful bids might not be impressed to hear that the whole voting process was a charade was not one that hit Mr. Blatter before he decided to let this slip.
Blatter's delightful use of the phrase 'secret ballot' is also intriguing here, not least because he seemed secure in the knowledge beforehand that the USA would win the bid by a vote of 12-10. He also referred to the four votes from Europe, which he had blissfully assumed were fully behind the Americans, that then switched to Qatar.
In the UK today, FA Chairman Greg Dyke told a Westminster select committee that it would be nice to get the money back, but did not appear to rate their chances.
We will obviously go back and look at it. I think it would be a good idea. But get the bid costs back from whom? From FIFA? I agree it would be very nice to get taxpayers’ money back.
Blatter had already dealt with British annoyance in the interview. His interviewer asked whether there was any chance Russia would be stripped of the tournament, citing reports in the British media. Blatter was uncompromising in response.
Bad losers. In Great Britain they have made this beautiful game, they have introduced fair play. But there was only one vote going for England. They were eliminated in the first round. Nobody wanted to have England.
Throughout the figure, the evil figure of Michel Platini continuously lurks. In Blatter's telling, the entire FIFA scandal has its roots in Platini's personal animus against him.
Read the whole lot here.
Read more: The Lifestyle Of FIFA's Corrupt Informer Contains One Unbelievably Hilarious Detail
