Petty and Childish – Mayor of London Withdraws Free Stay Offer to FIFA

London is hurting at the award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia.

When someone rejects you, you can do one of two things. Prove them wrong or prove them right. No-one can dispute the technical excellence of their bid. Certainly the FIFA Technical Committee gave it the highest marks, with Russia and Qatar’s bids, receiving the lowest.

Among the many reasons being quoted why FIFA dared to select a bid other than England’s was the perceived arrogance the FA appears to hold towards everyone else. It’s also fair to say the English media’s unwillingness to stay silent about FIFA corruption did not help.

In England, it is naturally the latter that has received much of the blame.

Which is why, this morning’s news is revealing as it is embarrassing as it is hilarious.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has announced that he has withdrawn the offer of free hotel accommodation to FIFA delegates during the 2012 London Olympics. His reason is that they didn’t give the World Cup to England.

Let’s start in the less obvious place than the fact that this revelation portrays the City of London, and probably the entire nation, as juvenile and petty. What next, London defriends Football on Facebook?

Let’s start here instead.

Why were those heroic battlers against corruption, the English FA, offering free hotels to FIFA delegates during the bidding process? Like almost everything creeping out about this process after the fact, it seems that England’s main gripe is that everything they tried (good or bad), the Russians did better.

Last week, we revealed that they were pointing accusatory fingers at the USA’s Chuck Blazer among others. Blazer apparently promised England he would back their bid and then didn’t.

The FA conveniently forgot, during their high pitched whining about betrayal, about their promise to back the German bid in 2006 – a promise they subsequently went back on – and actually competed with the Germans. The deal had been that each would back each other’s bid’ England for EURO 1996 and Germany’s for the 2006 World Cup.

The Germans kept their word and England organised a highly successful tournament (which the Germans eventually won).

It was so good that the FA decided to bid against Germany in EURO 2006 despite the agreement. UEFA was furious, and the betrayal left the FA few friends.

See: Source of England’s Votes Should Douse Righteous Anger –  Why England’s Bid Really Failed

Still the FIFA delegates were offered junkets to the London Olympics. Free hotel rooms for VIP guests during the Olympics are the province of by Locog, the Olympic organising committee. The delegates were offered rooms at the very expensive and plush Dorchester Hotel.

According to the BBC, Mayor Johnson is understood to have discussed the issue with Locog chairman, and former Olympic Gold medalist Sebastian Coe. Johnson traveled to FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland to assist England’s bid. There can be no claim that the England 2018 Bid were unaware of the offer.

It seemed while decrying corruption when they lost the vote, that bid was happy to offer inducements to secure the votes during the process. That’s bad enough, but Johnson has now followed the failure to win the World Cup with a tantrum, to add to the excruciatingly idiotic admission that he was at the bribery game too.

FIFA delegates were said to be furious at the Panorama program, “FIFA’s Dirty Secrets”, which exposed several instances of bribes and inducements given to FIFA delegates to win lucrative contracts. The four accused in the programme will be permitting themselves a rueful chuckle this morning.

A former Conservative MP, Johnson may have obtained a cheap populist headline for himself this morning among an English public still largely angry and bewildered as to why they got so few votes. He is known for it. This is the man who also threatened to arrest George W Bush for war crimes if the former President arrived in London to promote his book.

But away from conclusions about Johnson’s occasional tendency to put his foot in his mouth, his outburst has prompted another question.

What else did the England bid offer voting delegates?

And maybe this one, what else can they do to turn everybody else against them?

Time Magazine profile of Boris Johnson