Russia reject collusion claim

Sorokin insists no unfair play in vote process

Last updated: 3rd December 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Russia reject collusion claim

Sorokin: No collusion

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Russia's 2010 World Cup bid chief executive Alexei Sorokin has rejected claims of collusion in the voting process.

The Russian bid beat England, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium to win the right to host the finals in eight years' time.

England secured only two votes and were eliminated in the first round, while Russia received nine votes in the first round before going on to win an outright majority of 13 in the second round.

There were accusations of collusion between some countries and some of the 22 members of Fifa's executive members.

However, Sorokin insists there was no wrongdoing in the voting process and that everything was done in the right way.

"We never saw any evidence of collusion," Sorokin told Sky Sports News.

"The Spanish bid before the vote in their interview said they would have about seven or eight votes and it happened this way, so they were right in their assessment.

"We did not find any spirit or atmosphere of collusion.

"We are grateful to all Fifa members who supported us."

Security concerns

Sorokin also rejected worries over possible security concerns about the finals being staged in Russia.

"They [security concerns] will be addressed by perfect organisation of that tournament, including security measures," added Sorokin.

"We have a lot of experience in that we have hosted a lot of international events without a single security issue, without a single incident and World Cup 2018 will not be an exception. It will be very well organised."

Comments (2)

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Denis Munday (Chelsea fan) says...

I must have been just one of millions of Englishmen and women who knew weeks possibly months ago, that Russia would secure the right to stage the 2018 World Cup. The decision made by FIFA had nothing to do with football but was purely political. England had, by far, the best bid and presentation but those sad old men decided to ignore that and instead, their hatred of England and everything to do with this great country of ours poisoned their tiny minds. I have no doubt that Russia will put on a fantastic tournament but I feel cheated. I was nearly 14 when England hosted and won the World Cup in 1966 but I will have long gone by the time we are considered again. The names of Blatter, Platini and Warner to name a few will go down in the annals of everything that is wrong with our once beautiful game.

Posted 14:38 3rd December 2010

John Dutton says...

He would say that wouldn't he but maybe he would not know if anything untoward went on as quite often front men are chosen for their "innocence" by their more devious colleagues/employers.

Posted 14:28 3rd December 2010
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