Skip to main content

Infantino : 2026 World Cup Bid Must Be 'Bullet-Proof'

FIFA must make the 2026 World Cup bidding process "absolutely bullet-proof" because the entire organisation's credibility is at stake, new president Gianni Infantino said on Friday.


Infantino, elected Fifa boss last week, hopes to start 2026 bidding within three months after it was delayed by the wide-reaching corruption scandal that rocked the governing body last year.

"We have to get the 2026 bidding process absolutely right," Infantino told the BBC.

"It's certainly the commitment that I want to give; that I will do everything I can to make sure that this happens because I think that the credibility of FIFA is, as well, at stake here.

"We need to make sure that we do everything we possibly can, not only to prevent strange things to happen around bidding processes but also to prevent the perception that strange things could happen.

"We need to make sure that bidding process that we put in place is absolutely bullet-proof."

Every World Cup bidding process since 1998 has been the subject of allegations of corruption and bribery.

The awarding of the 2018 and 2022 finals, to Russia and Qatar respectively, is being probed by Swiss authorities.

On Friday, a report into the bid for the 2006 World Cup awarded to Germany found no evidence of vote-rigging but was unable to explain a $10 million payment by the country's bid chief Franz Beckenbauer to a company owned by Mohammed Bin Hammam.

Qatari Bin Hammam, a former president of the Asian Football Confederation, was banned from all soccer-related activity for life in Dec. 2012 for integrity issues.

Infantino reiterated his position that the 2018 and 2022 World Cups needed to go ahead, regardless of investigations.

"I am a pragmatic person," he said. "FIFA needs to deliver two World Cups, one in two years and one in six years, for decisions which have been taken six years ago.

"There has been a lot of speculation and a lot of allegations but not one single fact, in six years.

"At some stage we have to say 'let's focus on working'. I want to work and help Russia and Qatar host the best World Cups ever, as we always say."

Source : Reuters
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lady Gaga Becomes Marc Jacobs’s Most Talked Model

For his fall/winter 2016 show, Marc Jacobs cast a special guest — Lady Gaga. The platform boots-habitué was slipped into the lineup of well-shod models, wearing an oversize coat with fur sleeves over a pussy-bow blouse. The designer also outfitted Gaga at Monday night’s Grammy Awards in an ornate blue gown for the red carpet and a sequined white suit during her David Bowie tribute performance. (Another notable cameo in the show: Hillary Clinton, whose visage appeared on Jacobs-designed shirts worn by both a front-row Anna Wintour and the designer himself.) Source : The New York Times
Post a Comment
Read more

ISIS Claimed to Execute Two Chinese Teachers

Isis claimed to execute two Chinese teachers who have been kidnapped in Pakistan last month. Source : CNN "ISIS has already killed two Chinese who had been kidnapped in Baluchistan, Southwest Pakistan," informed ISIS , Amaq, Thursday (8/6). China Foreign Ministry acknowledged that two citizens had kidnapped by armed men disguised as police officers in Pakistan. "We've been working to save those who were abducted during a past few days," confirmed the China Foreign Ministry, as quoted by Reuters. However, China foreign minister will try to verify the information through different source, including working closely with Pakistan authorities. During this time, ISIS is indeed working to build its power in Pakistan. They often launch attacks, including an attack in the Office of Senate in Baluchistan that killed 25 people last month. Lately, the Chinese Embassy to Pakistan have repeatedly asked Islamabad to improve the security around the are, especia...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dr. Luke Accuses Kesha Supporters of 'Trial by Twitter'

Dr. Luke, the pop star Kesha's former music producer, said allegations on Monday that it was lies he had raped the singer. He also hit back at a "trial by Twitter" backed by some of music's biggest names over Kesha's bid to extricate herself from a recording contract. Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, posted a series of tweets saying that people supporting Kesha's claims of sexual assault against him were "getting behind an allegation only - motivated by money." "I didn’t rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her. Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister," the producer said. "But lives can get ruined when there’s a rush to judgment before all the facts come out ... It’s sad that she would turn a contract negotiation into something so horrendous and untrue," he added. Anger and sympathy for the "Tik Tok" singer swelled after a New York judge ruled on Frida...
Post a Comment
Read more