Englands 2018 World Cup dream over.

Today it was announced that Russia would be the hosts of the 2018 World Cup, and Qatar in 2022. Challenging for  host nation for the 2018 World Cup was Russia, Holland/Belgium, Portugal/Spain and of course, England. Russia were early favourites and kicked off their campaign positively, whilst England were slow to react, however in the last 10 months England made themselves joint favourites with Russia to win the votes. England's campaign team worked exhaustively over the last few months in an effort to ensure the World Cup would come back to the motherland of football, and over the last few days big names such as David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham have been in Zurich in an effort to persuade voters that England deserved the World Cup. We have been led to believe that this was a success, with as early as this morning Fifa president Sebb Blatter describing England's presentation as 'excellent and remarkable.' England were the most convenient choice for Fifa too, undoubtedly. In risk assessments, England were deemed the safest option- the infrastructure was already there with some of the highest quality stadiums in the world, good transport systems were in place and a nation that could supply the needs of those travelling for the events. The passion for football in England is evident, with the largest, most successful league in the world, and some of the most passionate fans in existence. As royal family members and the PM travelled to Zurich, Russia's approach could not have been more different. Russian President Vladmir Putin did not travel to Zurich, and his supposed lack of interest was thought to have been something that will have worked against Russia, clearly this wasn't the case. Russia's risk inspection did raise some concerns - 11 new stadiums will need to be built for the competitions, new railway services don't even reach 3 of them, and there is great concern about racism in the country. Only months ago, one of the leading lobbyists for the Russian cause made controversial remarks regarding African players within Russia, describing them as not worthy of playing football within Russia. In Russian games, black players are subject to taunting and abuse on a regular basis - personally, I dont believe that this is the right kind of atmosphere for the greatest sporting event in the world. Only last night bookies across the UK narrowed the odds on England's chances to 4/5, whilst Russia stood 3rd favourites at 9/1 - this must have been for a reason. Russia winning the World Cup is a shock, and a disgrace to football. Here's why I think why -

All of what I have stated has led me to one conclusion - the votes were bought. Corruption within Fifa is no secret, and only on Monday Panaroma released a documentary investigating votes that were bought with bribes previously - this certainly couldn't have helped England's case, however I think that little blame should be put on Panaroma, if anything they have only been proved right by todays result. Even less of a secret is corruption within Russia. Their PM's residency alone should have ended years ago, and Russia is supposedly run by the rich elite. The combination of these things, along with the shocking result is rather suspicious. Putin decided only hours before the announcement of the winner to get a jet ready to fly to Zurich 'should Russia win.' This is a remarkable change of attitude for someone historically so stern and assured in judgement- could it be that he changed his mind amongst news that deals had been done? England came 4th out of 4 in the voting process, with only 2 votes (one of which was from an English delegate.) For the most impressive presentation, the safest option and the most passionate nation about the game this is a shocking result. The campaign team cannot be blamed, and neither can the public for suspecting corruption. How can the favourites come last, even behind Holland/Belgium who never really stood a chance? In my opinion, giving the WC to Spain/Portugal would have been understandable. Spain are recent world cup winners and a footballing nation, as are Portugal. On top of this, the economic benefits would have been great for these nations in need of a boost. Russia however- a racist, corrupt nation lacking in passion for the game is simply the wrong option. It seems to me that delegates who may have voted for England initially were bought out by Russia. It has been said that England were promised votes from numerous delegates who simply haven't delivered- they were lied to. FIFA are corrupt, and an investigation into the voting process is certainly necessary. Unfortunately, it is unlikely any action would even be taken should it be found that there were votes bought. A real message would be for the F.A. to leave FIFA, however realistically this isn't going to happen. FIFA needs revamping, and Blatter, Plutin etc. in my opinion are ruining the game. Blatter is more concerned about spreading the game then enhancing football where it really matters. Although the 2010 World Cup was symbolic, in reality it was rather disappointing, and many games didn't even sell out. If this is the case then realistically no major footballing nation will hold the World Cup again. Qatar 2022 is equally ludicrous, having bought their way into the World Cup. Qatar are ranked 113th in the world, and certainly wouldn't have made the competition in the conventional way- money money money. Watching faces such as Abromavich celebrate was devestating to watch, knowing their pockets had certainly been opened to assure this happened. This isn't a bitter post, I genuinely believe that England were the best option. England's next opportunity to get the World Cup is 2030...what a joke.

PFA's chief Gordon Taylor had this to say:

"You have to wonder whether there is a resentment of English football," he added. "We talk about the 'football family' but at the moment we are not as highly regarded as we desire to be.

"There are many questions to be asked about why/how Fifa came to this decision. Fifa's role is to look at other areas throughout the world. Maybe that is their philosophy, and why we have been rebuffed.

"The annoying thing is that, in terms of the bid, we ticked all the boxes and answered all of the questions Fifa asked of us. So it is something of an insult for us not to be considered as serious contenders. To not get past the first round of voting is incredible.

"We have to remember that this is Fifa's game; their ball and we have to play by their rules. But we have to take this on the chin, move on and make sure we have a team capable of winning their tournament."

By Will Davies