Bribe claims will not wreck 2018 bid says Davies

Revelations that the Football Association were offered votes for bribes during their unsuccessful bid for the 2006 World Cup should not harm their campaign for the 2018 finals, according to former executive director David Davies.

The offer of votes for cash was made in March 2000 by an unnamed middle man "well-connected in international footballing circles", says Davies in his book 'FA Confidential' which is published today.

Some FA figures believe Davies' revelations could prove unhelpful to the 2018 bid, but he insists it will warn off anyone tempted to make a similar approach.

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Davies told PA Sport: "It's not going to damage the 2018 bid - we rejected it and so it is a warning to people that we will not be party to anything of that nature."

In his book Davies says he listened into the middle man making the offer in a telephone call to the FA's chief executive at the time, Adam Crozier.

Davies writes: "The FA were offered votes for cash during the bidding to host the 2006 World Cup finals.

"A bribe. An irregular payment. A sweetener. Call it what you like, those of us at the FA who heard this corrupt proposal were shocked.

"We believed the offer was serious. Adam was offered World Cup votes in return for a substantial payment.

"But that would never be the FA's way. Some countries could take short cuts, could walk in the sport's shadows. Not us."

Davies added that he believed the approach was reported to Fifa, and that the person who made the offer was foreign and not a member of Fifa's executive committee.

But Fifa denied any knowledge of the matter being reported to them at the time.

A spokesman said: "We have no knowledge of this and therefore have no comments."

Geoff Thompson, the English vice-president of Fifa and Uefa, was chairman of the FA at the time and said he too had not been told of the offer.

He told PA Sport: "I never knew of this either at the time or since then."

An FA spokesman said it would be almost impossible to investigate Davies' claims as all those involved had since left the organisation.

The spokesman said: "This is an anecdotal story by someone who left the organisation two years ago about a phone call to someone [Crozier] who left the organisation six years ago, from an unnamed individual who was not on Fifa's executive committee."

Davies said he believed England had a very good chance of winning the contest to host 2018, but that they faced "a battle royal" against Australia, Russia and Spain.