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England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup cost the Football Association (FA) £15 million and local councils £2.1 million. Had England won the right to host the 2018 World Cup, there would have been substantial economic, social and sporting benefits to the country.
During our inquiry into domestic football governance, the Committee heard allegations of unethical behaviour by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) representatives during the bidding process for the right to host the 2018 World Cup, and noted criticism of the performance of the England bid team. We decided, therefore, to hold a one-off oral evidence session on England's 2018 World Cup bid, just as our predecessor Committee had looked at the similarly unsuccessful England bid to host the 2006 World Cup.
We were appalled by the allegations of corruption made against members of the FIFA Executive Committee during the course of our inquiry. Although they have been challenged in other evidence, they are sufficiently serious for FIFA to commission a full, urgent and independent investigation, and for the outcome to be made public. Instead, FIFA has given every impression of wishing to sweep all allegations of misconduct under the carpet and of dismissing anyone bringing allegations to them with an approach bordering on contempt.
The Committee agrees with the conclusions of the FA independent review with regard to the need for greater transparency at FIFA. We urge FIFA to conduct a thorough review of its governance of bidding processes, incorporating independent input to address systemic reform as well as the conduct of individuals, taking heed of the example set by the International Olympic Committee following allegations of bribery and corruption relating to Salt Lake City's bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The record of Sepp Blatter does not inspire confidence that this will occur. We look to him now to fulfil the undertakings that he gave at the time of his re-election to the Presidency. We urge the FA and other national associations to ensure that he is held to account for them.
We find the decision to drop the investigation following the resignation of FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner extraordinary and it suggests that nothing has changed. As a first step towards restoring confidence we call upon FIFA to publish the Ethics Committee Report.
England's bid team appears to have lacked a number of the components of a successful bid. Lessons did not appear to have been learned from previous studies with regard to the composition and unity of the bid team, and the messages it needed to project. More fundamentally, it appears that the groundwork for a successful bid had not been laid effectively with football's international bodies.
We urge the FA to conduct a review of the 2018 bid along the lines of its 2006 bid report. We recommend that the FA also review its longer term strategy for engaging with FIFA and other international football authorities with a view to increasing its influence, including with regard to governance reform.
Finally, we recommend that the Government review its advice and its own actions on bidding for international sporting events in the light of our Report and any future FA report on the 2018 bid. The Government should consider, in particular, its early announcement of the bid and whether sufficient attention was given to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the England bid both before the bid was declared and during the bidding process.
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