Dyke in North Korea jibe at Fifa and rules out fresh World Cup bid
FOOTBALL Association chairman Greg Dyke has compared world governing body Fifa to North Korea and pledged that England will not bid to stage a World Cup while Sepp Blatter remains president.
Dyke told a Culture, Media and Sport select committee yesterday that the FA and other European associations opposed Blatter but that he remained popular elsewhere, and described a Fifa congress last month as being “like something from North Korea – hail to the leader”.
The former BBC director general said the two-way antipathy between England and Fifa meant the FA would not bid for the World Cup again, as it did for the 2018 tournament, while Blatter remained in charge, but dismissed the idea of quitting Fifa altogether.
“We have already made a decision that we will not bid for Fifa tournaments while Sepp Blatter is there because we won’t win,” said Dyke. “I don’t think we should walk out of Fifa because within a week everyone has forgotten you. I don’t think that sort of gesture politics would help.”
Dyke said he was “certain” the Qatar World Cup in 2022 would be moved to winter, saying it was “widely accepted now that it was a flawed decision” to plan it for the summer in searing Gulf heat.
He reaffirmed his support for England manager Roy Hodgson, despite the national team’s dire World Cup. “I thought Roy Hodgson did quite a good job,” he added. “Our view is Roy has a four-year contract and he will continue that contract.”