FIFA told to postpone World Cup vote
Reuters - Wednesday 27 October 2010, 11:08
BERLIN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - World football's governing body
FIFA should postpone the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World
Cups after allegations of vote-selling, a former FIFA Executive
Committee member said on Wednesday.
Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, the former German FA (DFB) chief
was a highly influential Executive Committee member until 2007
and is still a member of FIFA's Players Status Committee.
Although he will not have a vote on December 2 when the
destination of the World Cups is decided, he said it could be
tricky to go ahead with a decision then until an investigation
sheds full light on the affair.
"The awarding (of the World Cups) should be postponed until
the question is cleared up, in a negative or a positive way," he
told Sport Bild magazine.
"Four weeks would not make a big difference."
"The Executive Committee is not a pile of corrupt people. It
is just that some people took a wrong turn," said
Mayer-Vorfelder, who headed the DFB from 2001 to 2006 and is
still active in FIFA circles.
Other FIFA sources have told Reuters they expect the vote to
go ahead as planned on December 2 and FIFA have given no indication
it intends to change the date.
Last week, two members of FIFA's executive committee were
provisionally suspended on suspicion of selling their votes in
the contest to host the two tournaments.
Nigerian Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii were banned
from all football-related activity for 30 days while FIFA's own
ethics committee investigates allegations they offered to sell
their votes when approached by Sunday Times journalists posing
as lobbyists for an American consortium.
FIFA is due elect the hosts of the two World Cup tournaments
on December 2 in Zurich and may be held by 22 of the 24-man
executive with Adamu and Temarii banned from voting.