Soccer: England accused of racism by FIFA executives: Japan bid chief
Members of the Japanese delegation arrive at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010, to present their bid to host the soccer World Cup 2022. (AP Photo/Keystone/Steffen Schmidt)
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese World Cup bid chief Junji Ogura said on Tuesday that some members of the FIFA executive committee felt racism triggered reports of bribery by the Sunday Times and the BBC, which turned votes against England's bid for the 2018 tournament.
Ogura, who had one of 22 votes in Thursday's voting for the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, said his peers at world soccer's governing body even considered taking the Sunday Times to court, irate over the sting operation that saw Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti banned from the decision-making process.
England was eliminated in the first round of voting. Russia won the 2018 hosting rights in the next round.
"The African members of the executive committee were furious over the Sunday Times report," Ogura said at Japan Football Association headquarters.
"They even suggested suing the paper at the executive committee meeting. The people being accused were from Africa and Oceania, not Europe or Asia, and some felt racism was behind it.
"If the reports are true, then that would be sad. But until they can present the evidence, then it's hard for any of us to definitively say anything.
Kuniya Daini vice president of Japan Football Association, center, and other officials react as live TV broadcast announced that Qatar will host the 2022 Soccer World Cup at Japan Football Association headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
"But what I can say is that the reports definitely had an impact on the England bid. There's no mistake about that."
The JFA President said he couldn't fathom why England's media would try to derail its own bid.
BBC reported that three executive committee members -- Paraguay's Nicolas Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil and Issa Hayatou of Cameroon -- took bribes in the 1990s from ISL, a FIFA-affiliated sports marketing firm.
Ogura, who made it clear he was never even approached with bribes as some FIFA members reportedly were, hoped the truth will be uncovered in the coming months.
"I read the story, but the truth is, I don't really know what went on," Ogura said. "Temarii, Adamu, they weren't out for personal gain but for the benefit of their associations. Temarii said he will appeal, which hopefully will shed the light on everything.
"They were set up, and it's hard for us to understand what really happened. We received letters from both members protesting their innocence and hopefully their appeals will uncover the truth.
"I have a hard time understanding why a network as prestigious as the BBC would go with a story like that at that particular time. The money mentioned in it is massive, and I can't figure out why they would dig up a case that's already been resolved in court."
Ogura would not say which country he backed in the 2018 voting, but did say the four Asian bidders -- Japan, South Korea, Australia and Qatar -- threw their votes behind Qatar in the last round for 2022 against the United States, as they previously agreed upon.
Japan went out in the second round of voting.
(Mainichi Japan) December 7, 2010
