When the results came out last week that Russia would be hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, our whole country felt let down. What looked like a faultless bid, boasting stadia fit to compete with any around the world, failed. You look at the number of stadiums in our competitors bids and they haven't even started building them!
We all know, having great venues does not win you a World Cup bid, so what should have?
How about the fact that throughout the process the FA put together a formidable team full of big names, big faces and ultimately the biggest ambassador in football since Pele, correction... Ever! David Beckham is not only a hero in England, but the biggest star the game has ever seen. He is probably more recognisable around the planet than the Queen. If only we had the Queen involved, well as a matter of fact we had the future King. These two both gave their absolute all to ensure football came home for the first time in 54 years. If you saw their speeches leading up to, and including, the day of voting they were enough to give Maximus Decimus Meridius a run for his money. Oh and just for good measure we also had our Prime Minister doing his bit. The same man who, only seven months earlier, won the support of the Great Britain to lead them through this difficult economic time.
So as I have said our bid was faultless... That is until Russia came along. Vladimir Putin did not even bother turning up to the World Cup voting day, why? Maybe he thought it was already in the bag...
There have been many rumours as to why we possibly didn't get the bid. Some involving corruption in the voting process, which saw two members banned. Some suggesting pay offs in order to get the win or maybe it is just a matter of trying to raise awareness of the game around the world. This years tournament in South Africa, though it wasn't a great spectacle in footballing terms as few of the worlds 'top players' failed to perform. It had so much more to offer in terms of the whole feeling across the country, the continent and the world. This is surely what a world cup should do, involve the world.
I suppose that keeping this fantastic tournament between the richer and more established footballing nations is almost shutting out other competitors and if a football competition can have such a massive affect on these countries, then why not - it could also change our perceptions. In the long run it may well change the way a smaller country will live their lives, with money of course being a massive benefit, but also the sense of togetherness which the World Cup brings. What is wrong with something a bit new, a bit different? Change is good, so maybe the voters thought just that.
Even so, why on earth England didn't even come close to winning the bid baffles me, some explanations make a bit more sense than others. It seems that we may well never know the real reasons behind it all... Unless, we literally just lost - though I do not want to believe that, I mean, we had 'Golden Balls' for crying out loud.
I suppose that keeping this fantastic tournament between the richer and more established footballing nations is almost shutting out other competitors and if a football competition can have such a massive affect on these countries, then why not - it could also change our perceptions. In the long run it may well change the way a smaller country will live their lives, with money of course being a massive benefit, but also the sense of togetherness which the World Cup brings. What is wrong with something a bit new, a bit different? Change is good, so maybe the voters thought just that.
Even so, why on earth England didn't even come close to winning the bid baffles me, some explanations make a bit more sense than others. It seems that we may well never know the real reasons behind it all... Unless, we literally just lost - though I do not want to believe that, I mean, we had 'Golden Balls' for crying out loud.
I may sound like a patriot (yes) and an England fan who is bitter that his country will not host the World Cup for at least another generation (yes), but when you consider all aspects, we have the best league in the world (in which Russia's captain plays) the stadiums, the names, the faces and the fans - it just doesn't add up.
