Big Names Gather As 2018 Bid Hits Final Straight

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson will fly to Zurich to join a host of delegates including David Cameron, David Beckham and Prince William as the England 2018 bid team goes on full charm offensive in an attempt to persuade FIFA to choose its bid ahead of the vote tomorrow.

The Mayor will join the official 30-person delegation that the bid team has taken to Zurich, which also includes Gary Lineker, Andy Cole and John Barnes.

Beckham, Cameron and Prince William headed out to Zurich yesterday and the prime minister insisted he will ignore the furore over corruption claims levelled at FIFA by the BBC Panorama documentary.

‘I have got one focus here and that is to try to bring the World Cup home for England. I am going to be pressing on them the brilliance of English football. That is going to be the concern, nothing else,’ he said.

The Prime Minister met FIFA president Sepp Blatter before holding talks with vice-president Jack Warner and other members of FIFA.

There will be a free, live event and public screening of the decision in London, which will take place from 2:30pm on Thursday in The Scoop next to City Hall.

The event is backed by the Mayor of London and the official tourist board Visit London and supported by England’s 2018 bid sponsors, BT, PricewaterhouseCoopers, npower, Morrisons, British Airways and Umbro.

Meanwhile, the fallout of the BBC’s Panorama expose on FIFA has begun after the International Olympic Committee confirmed that it will launch an official investigation into its member and FIFA vice president Issa Hayatou.

Hayatou was accused by the BBC’s investigation of receiving illegitimate money from the ISL agency in 1995 in return for help in getting lucrative contracts.

An IOC statement said: ‘The IOC has taken note of the allegations made by BBC Panorama and will ask the programme makers to pass on any evidence they may have to the appropriate authorities.’

‘The IOC has zero tolerance against corruption and will refer the matter to the IOC Ethics Commission.’

Hayatou has been an IOC member since 2001 and sits on its Women and Sport commission as well as being president of Africa’s football confederation.

The BBC’s investigation also claimed that other FIFA members Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil and South American Nicolas Léoz took bribes from ISL.