England 2006 bid officials has reacted with disbelieving anger to the report which appeared to rank the country?s technical facilities ? stadia, hotels, infrastructure and broadcasting facilities ? in a category head of Brazil and Morocco but behind the nations seen as their biggest threat.
But a FIFA spokesman says that although the bids have been categorized ?according to competence or facilities? these do not represent a ranking.
?There is no ranking which says that England are third choice or that Germany are second choice and South Africa first choice.
The FIFA spokesman told the Press Association that he had not seen the report which was only for the eyes of members of the executive committee who will vote to decide the hosts on July 6th.
The surprise and anger of the bid officials is understandable. England?s stadia are widely considered to the best of the existing breed of soccer venues while the construction of a new cutting-edge facility on the site of the legendary Wembley Stadium is a central component of the plan.
There is no question that that we are happy to put our bid under any scrutiny because there is no question it is the best bid,? spokesman Nick Baron told Sportbusiness.com.
?But to suggest our bid falls below any other on technical grounds is nonsense.?
Bid chief Alec McGiven is spending today presenting the bid to members of UEFA, European soccer?s ruling body which last week threatened to kick the English team out of the Euro 2000 championships over the activities of the hooligan element among its following.
UEFA have said that it will not vote en bloc on World Cup hosting but the majority of its representatives are known to favour the German bid. England may have to rely on the near certainty that Germany could not beat South Africa in a head-to-head contest and hope that UEFA delegates will switch their allegiance to England to ensure that the competition comes to Europe. However, in the light of recent events, that is far form a foregone conclusion.
