Football: Johansson's warning

Lennart Johansson, the president of Uefa, European football's governing body, believes that the rivalry between Germany and England over the issue of who will stage the 2006 World Cup, could be damaging to both country's prospects. He also believes that a joint bid will not succeed.

"They must remember that other parts of the world will also have expectations, like Africa and Brazil," Johannson, who runs later this year for the presidency of Fifa, said in an exclusive interview with The Independent (page 10). "It would have been better for all of us to have sat down first and discussed this."