England 2018 makes Sorokin complaint 27/10/2010 |
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England’s World Cup bid team has lodged a complaint with Fifa against Alexei Sorokin, the head of 2018 rival Russia’s campaign, over comments he made about London.
Sorokin allegedly criticised high crime rates and the drinking habits of young people in England's capital. Fifa has strict rules prohibiting negative statements about rival bids.
However, Sorokin defended his position, calling the incident a “misunderstanding”.
"We have the tapes of the interview and I know for a fact that I didn't break any rules,” he said. “I did not try to hurt or discredit our bid rivals. There was no malice intended – I'm 100 per cent sure of that.
"I will provide an explanation to Fifa but I do not feel that what I said originally requires an apology."
England's complaint has been made against Sorokin rather than the Russian bid as a whole.
The controversy began last week when Russian paper Sport Express reported Sorokin as saying: "We do not enter into squabbles.
"It's no secret, for example, that London has the highest crime rate when compared with other European cities, and the highest level of alcohol consumption among young people."
Sorokin also criticised the British media for its coverage of Russia's bid – but insisted he could explain himself to governing body Fifa as well as England's bid team if necessary.
"I am really sorry that because of several interpretations my interview was distorted," he added. "In the interview, I used London's problems as an example. Such things are part of life in any big city.
"If you're talking specifically about my interview in the Sport Express and what the British media made out of it, I must say my words have been distorted in three different stages, creating all the fuss.
"First, people in the Sport Express had interpreted some of my comments in a vague way, not exactly what I was trying to express. Second, much of it was lost in translation from Russian into English, and then the rest was made up by the English journalists themselves.
"Because of all these things, the final content came out in a wrong way."
Russia, England and joint bids from Belgium/Holland and Spain/Portugal are in the running to host the 2018 World Cup.
Qatar, Australia, the United States, Japan and South Korea are contesting the 2022 vote.
The decision on who will host the tournaments will be announced by Fifa on December 2.
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