This is the letter I've written to the newspaper in response to Paul Hayward's piece:
Dear Editor,
What a shame that Paul Hayward added to the xenophobic rants in crying 'Foul!' over Russia and Qatar hosting the World Cup. We wuz cheated or, as Hayward puts it, 'The World Cup has been stolen: appropriated by unaccountable empire builders... This is Russian political interference and Qatari petro-wealth smashing aside all considerations of fairness.' Whatever happened to English 'fair play'? No mention of the £15m we spent on England's bid or the gift of expensive handbags to FIFA members' wives. What else was promised to gain a single vote is never questioned. The results could not possibly have had anything to do with FIFA's stated aim to spread the game round the world -- to Russia and Eastern Europe, to Qatar and the Middle East where the World Cup has never been held before.
Thank Goodness for David James who asks in the same issue, 'Why shouldn't Russia have it? They are a world economic power, an enormous country spanning time zones and cultures... I think it's great that first South Africa and now Russia and Qatar have been invited to host the tournament. If the compettion was only awarded to the western world it would be a closed shop.' Still, what does David James know? He's only a footballer, not a journalist.
Jim Riordan
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