Senior FIFA official Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who was "charged with evaluating the rival bids to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cups," has revealed that England's was "by far the strongest contender," according to Ungoed-Thomas & Boswell of the SUNDAY TIMES. Mayne-Nicholls, chairman of the FIFA group that assessed the "technical strengths of the bids," said that the "quality of England's proposal was unrivalled." After visiting "all 11 countries competing for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, including the eventual winners Russia and Qatar, he concluded England had the best infrastructure and the most public involvement -- central tenets of a successful World Cup." His disclosure will "reinforce claims that the bidding process was corrupt." He said, "England were on the top. They had the best concept, the best infrastructure and the people were very much involved. How could England have only got two votes? It was a big surprise. I was there and I saw the faces of Prince William and [David] Beckham, and they were shocked. It's like when you are a first division team and you play a third division team and you lose by five goals." Mayne-Nicholls, a "former Chilean football federation president, is now considering standing against" FIFA President Sepp Blatter "for the top job" (SUNDAY TIMES, 12/21).
