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The scandals unveiled by London’s Sunday Times and the Panorama, broadcast on BBC on Monday, cost England as it was beaten to the 2018 World Cup bid by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Photo: FIFA President Sepp Blatter hands over the World Cup trophy to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov (R) after the official announcement that Russia will host the 2018 World Cup on December 2 Photo: REUTERS

It was supposed to be a return to the “motherland of football” as Joseph Blatter, FIFA President, said on the podium moments before the envelope of the winning bid was passed to him. When the winning bid was announced, there were about eight Russians in the hall with the others in apparent shock. Russia won against all expectations but it could have been swung in their favour by the words of Putin, Russia’s President, who on Wednesday criticised England over the FIFA exposes. “I would like to note that recently we have watched with disappointment as an obvious campaign was being unleashed against members of the FIFA executive committee,” he said. “They are being smeared in dirt and compromised. I consider it as part of unscrupulous bit of competition in preparations for the selection of the host-country for the World Cup.”..

The politics of the 2018 bid

England was said to have had the best technical bid but Russia trumped all the stats by promising to inject over $10 billion to host the world. Russia will also be hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Spain/Portugal bid President, Angel Villar Llona, in his presentation on Thursday said: “I love FIFA dearly but those I love the most are my colleagues in the Exco. Recently we have been criticised by many media outlets. Unfortunately for them, FIFA is a clean institution.” The defeat will be made more unpalatable as the England bid had been described by Blatter as being both excellent and remarkable. But it was not remarkable enough to be chosen. In revelations after FIFA’s members had voted in a secret ballot, it emerged that England did not make it to the second ballot.

Last minute attempts by Prime Minister, David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham to persuade the football’s world governing body executive members came too late to douse the embarrassments suffered by these members by the revelations of the BBC and London Times. Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii, the two FIFA executive members named in cash-for vote scandal, had been suspended and fined some sums of money following the revelations by the London Times that both members were ready to sell their bidding votes to the highest bidders. There will be recriminations from the British press but many observers feel that England shot itself in the foot by being “undiplomatic.”

Qatar trumps the USA

Qatar became the smallest country to be awarded the hosting rights of a FIFA World Cup by snagging the 2022 World Cup. The Qatar bid committee used French football legend, Zinedine Zidane, as a goodwill ambassador and said in their presentation that the World Cup project of hosting the world in 2022 could help unify the region. There was also the promise to overcome overwhelming heat by air conditioning the stadia it will build. Sheikh Mohammad bin Hamad Al-Thani, Qatar’s bid chairman, sounding all exultant after the pronouncement said: “Thank you for believing in change, thank you for believing in expanding the game, thank you for giving Qatar a chance. We will not let you down. You will be proud of us, you will be proud of the Middle East and I promise you this.”

And in what could be a final word to the backlash that will definitely come forth after the England snub, Llona had this to say, “You have already heard enough slander in the media, the bidding process is clean regardless of what they say.” The world will converge in Russia in 2018. And as the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Shuvalov, was handed the World Cup by Blatter, he celebrated by saying: “You have entrusted us with the FIFA World Cup for 2018 and I can promise, we all can promise, you will never regret it. Let us make history together.”

History will definitely be in the making as the Eastern European giants host the greatest single sport fiesta in the world while Qatar’s 1.7 million people prepare to welcome the world in 2022.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is recovering well after undergoing gallbladder surgery 10 days ago, a spokeswoman for the German hospital where he is receiving treatment said on Tuesday.

Mubarak, 81, who has ruled Egypt for almost three decades, had surgery on March 6, treatment that has sparked rumours about the seriousness of his condition and weighed on Egyptian market share prices.

"The recovery is going well. Everything is fine," the hospital spokeswoman said.

Mubarak has not said whether he will run again for a sixth six-year term in the 2011 presidential election. Many Egyptians believe that if he does not, he will try to hand power to his politician son, Gamal, 46. Both Mubaraks deny any such plan.

Egypt's al-Shorouk newspaper said an Egyptian television crew was heading to Germany to film Mubarak. Traders in Egypt had said the market was likely to stay under pressure until the president was seen on television.

Mubarak, who has never appointed a vice president since he took over in 1981, handed powers temporarily to his prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, before the operation.

Nigeria's Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the disbursal of $2 billion from windfall oil savings to the country's 36 states and government agencies, Minister of State for Finance Remi Babalola said on Friday.

"I have just gotten an approval this morning from the acting president for the sharing of $2 billion from the excess crude account," Reuters quoted Mr. Babalola saying after a meeting of the Federal Allocation Committee in the capital Abuja.