It's political, it's not a football decision - Redknapp

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp says it is "beyond belief" that England were not picked to stage the 2018 World Cup.

Fifa chose Russia as hosts with England getting two of the 22 votes on offer.

And Redknapp said: "These people go and look at what the countries have got to offer and they should make the decision on that.

"If they [Fifa] made a footballing decision there was only one winner for me and that was England. It was beyond belief. Why?"

The English bid, which had been praised on the strength of its technical report and final bid presentation, was derailed in the first round with only one Fifa executive, apart from England representative Geoff Thompson, voting in its favour.

England 2018 bid chief executive Andy Anson revealed that Fifa said the British media was to blame for their poor showing in the vote.

And Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has suggested that the bid team needs to look deeper into why only two people voted for England.

"It has to be a massive concern for the future," he said. "Only two people voted for our country to get the World Cup.

"I think research has to go into the reasons why we didn't get it and what we have to do to try to get it in 2026."

However, he conceded the time was probably right for a tournament in Russia.

"I can see why it has gone there, when you look at the fact that no eastern European country has ever had the World Cup," Allardyce said.

"That is a major pull on the Fifa committee."

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson admitted he thought England were in the driving seat as the announcement neared.

"It seemed to be everything was crying out for England to be given the World Cup and I was pretty confident when we started off that we would get it," he stated.

"Hearing it went to Russia and that we only got two votes is particularly disheartening."

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce added: "Maybe we have to accept we're [England] not very well liked because from top to bottom the bid was excellent, but it seemed to go out the window."

Everton's Scottish manager David Moyes joked he was disappointed because it would have been a "short trip for Scotland's supporters".

However, he also pointed out: "England have had the World Cup before, Russia hasn't and you have to look at the argument from the other side."

Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier insists he feels as "hurt as any football fan in this country".

The Frenchman added: "I thought England deserved it, simple as that.

"They had the better dossier, better guarantees and this is a nation of football."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version