England 2018 bid sunk by media, says Japan's Ogura

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Fifa say UK media 'killed bid' - Anson

By David Bond
BBC sports editor in Zurich

Japan's Fifa executive committee member has told the BBC that England's World Cup bid humiliation may have been a result of a backlash against the British media.

Junji Ogura, long considered one of England's closest allies, praised the strength of the England bid and its presentation despite the fact that it crashed out of the voting process in round one, eliminated after picking up only two votes.

"I thought England was a very strong candidate," said Ogura. "Their presentation was one of the best presentations.

"But I think there was a big influence from the BBC and the Sunday Times. These reports possibly influenced people. It made damage for some people."

Burden's decision is significant because it really does reflect this feeling of acrimony and anger at the very top of English football, and this sense that in some way the England bid team were betrayed BBC sports editor David Bond

England 2018 bid chief executive Andy Anson said he had been told that Fifa president Blatter spoke to members of the executive committee about the "evil of the media" just before the vote.

Anson said: "I think that was unhelpful - the last thing those guys hear before they go and tick the box is the evil of the media. That is not helpful and actually inaccurate.

"I was told by someone who was in the room that that's the last thing they were told by Sepp Blatter. There was a final sum-up before they voted and I think it was at the beginning of that. That's not helpful to our cause."

Russia was eventually named as host of the 2018 World Cup, beating Spain-Portugal and the Netherlands-Belgium in Thursday's election.

One of England's votes came from their own executive committee member Geoff Thompson, but there has been much speculation over the identity of the other voter.

Thompson and the England 2018 bid team believe African football president Issa Hayatou was their only foreign backer.

Asked whether he had been the other person to vote for England, Ogura said: "I cannot say anything. It's totally complicated. Nobody will say which country they voted for."