FIFA suspends bidding for 2026 World Cup
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Scandal-plagued FIFA postponed the bidding for the right to host the 2026 World Cup yesterday and embarked on the search to find a replacement for outgoing President Sepp Blatter.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said during an event in Russia that it would be “nonsense” to start the bidding process for the tournament for the time being.
Meanwhile, FIFA said its executive committee would hold an extraordinary meeting in July to discuss “various date options” for the Congress which will elect Blatter’s replacement.
The FBI is investigating bribery and corruption at FIFA, including scrutiny of how soccer’s governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia, which won the bidding for 2018, and Qatar, which is due to host the finals in 2022.
The extent of the turmoil engulfing FIFA was apparent in an emotional outburst by the usually composed Valcke, who said he was being destroyed by the media in his native France and gave a theatrical defense of his decision to sign off on a US$10 million payment at the center of the US bribery investigation.
Waving his pen in front of journalists, a visibly impatient Valcke asked: “You want me to take this pen and to hit my head and say ‘Hey! I have been stupid, I should have asked many more questions?”
“You have decided that after Blatter I have to be next head to be cut?” Valcke said in the Russian city of Samara, one of the 2018 host venues.
Blatter tendered his resignation on June 2, four days after having been re-elected for a fifth term.
He wants to remain in office until his successor is elected in order to carry out reforms at FIFA. But there have been widespread calls for him to step down at once given the gravity of the crisis facing the 111-year-old organization.
His announcement came less than a week after Swiss police staged a dawn raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich and arrested several officials on corruption charges filed by US prosecutors in New York.
On the 2026 World Cup, Valcke said: “Due to the situation, I think it’s nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being. It will be postponed.”
The decision on who hosts the 2026 finals had been due to be made in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.
In Paris, UEFA president Michel Platini, holding his first news conference since Blatter’s resignation, welcomed the decision to postpone the bidding for 2026. “It’s normal. There was a process that was launched for a vote in 2017,” said Platini, a leading critic of Blatter and FIFA. “There is no leadership at the moment, so it’s normal that it’s suspended. It’s good.”
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