Horne keen on bidding reform
Football Association general secretary Alex Horne insists he will push for reform in the World Cup bidding process.
Horne believes the FA must learn from the embarrassment which saw England poll just two votes in Zurich when Russia won the race to stage the 2018 World Cup. And, as sports minister Hugh Robertson revealed that England were led to believe they had eight votes on board in the first round in Zurich, Horne says he will be talking his concerns to FIFA.
Horne said: "I think the process could have sensible reform. Any election process or procurement process should be open to review and I would like to talk to other people around the game about how we might review that process."
He added: "For example a cap on expenditure in the campaign, so for nine bidders to go all the way to Zurich isn't necessary.
"There could be pre-elimination rounds. I think there are other ways to look at the process, not just bidding one year at a time.
"I am personally, hugely disappointed. I think there is a need for process reform, certainly a review of process so I will be talking to Fifa about it, yes."
Horne, who was speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, believes any reform would stop short of a breakaway from FIFA.
"I don't think it's practical," he said. "What I need to do is to build the relationships with the general secretaries and my incoming chairman, when selected, needs to build the relationships with the presidents and we continue to talk to the leading football nations but in practice a breakaway just doesn't feel workable. I think it's too reactionary."
Robertson revealed that Prime Minister David Cameron believed England had as many as eight votes in the bag in the first round in Zurich.
"Eight people had indicated in some way, shape or form that they were disposed to vote for us," said Robertson. "The most astonishing thing is that in England we had the very best technical evaluation, by common consent we did the best presentation and we got the fewest votes. We need to understand why."
