FA To Abstain In Fifa Presidential Vote

The Football Association has decided to abstain in the vote for the next FIFA president, following allegations of corruption against the governing body in recent months.

The current head of world football Sepp Blatter is looking for a fourth term in office, but has been challenged by Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation.

An FA statement said: ‘The FA board has agreed to abstain in the vote of the presidency of FIFA. There are a well-reported range of issues both recent and current which, in the view of the FA board, make it difficult to support either candidate’.

‘The FA values its relationships with its international partners very highly. We are determined to play an active and influential role through our representation within both UEFA and FIFA. We will continue to work hard to bring about any changes we think would benefit all of international football’.

England failed in its bid for the 2018 World Cup, winning just two votes – one of which was from its own representative.

Two FIFA executive committee members were suspended from voting in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, following allegations that they had offered to sell their votes.

Lord Triesman, the initial chairman of England’s bid, made claims that four FIFA members sought bribes in a bid to sell their vote during the 2018 World Cup campaign.

Triesman was initially the chairman of England’s failed 2018 bid, and made allegations about FIFA members Jack Warner, Nicolas Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi.

According to Lord Triesman, vice-president Warner asked for £2.5m to build an education centre in Trinidad, and later wanted £500,000 to buy Haiti’s World Cup TV rights for the earthquake-hit nation – on both occasions Warner reportedly asked that the money be channelled through him.

FIFA has since launched an investigation into the allegations but they have already damaged both Blatter’s and Bin Hammam’s campaign and arguably, their reputation – the latter was an influential figure in securing the 2022 World Cup for his country.