FIFA want probe into World Cup elections completed before Brazil 2014 kicks off



FIFA want the investigation into the shadowy 2018 and 2022 World Cup elections to be completed before the annual Congress in Sao Paulo on the eve of the 2014 tournament.



They believe the drip, drip of allegations surrounding the vote has gone on long enough and they hope New York lawyer Michael Garcia can deliver his findings in time for them to be debated when global football leaders are gathered in Brazil rather than later in the year.



Garcia, head of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee, has shown no sign of being rushed. But he has been around the world gathering evidence and FIFA consider he will have spoken to enough people to come to conclusions by June.



Controversy: Eyebrows were raised when the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar

Garcia demonstrated his independence when he turned up unannounced at the FIFA ExCo meeting in Zurich in March to interview existing members involved in the December 2010 vote. Some were so unsettled by his questioning that it’s alleged Spain’s Angel Maria Villar Llona and Argentina’s Julio Grondona made unsuccessful attempts to have Garcia removed from leading the inquiry.



It has emerged England cricket managing director Paul Downton held a Press conference to unveil Peter Moores as new head coach just two hours after his father died. Downton bravely went ahead with the event at Lord’s last Saturday morning without any mention of his bereavement.

In the light of this, perhaps the preposterous Piers Morgan, Kevin Pieterson’s cheerleader, might want to reflect on his inane tweet after the media summit. ‘I’d like to see Paul Downton-Shabby 'disconnected' from the @ECB asap. Already a complete disaster. #ECBClowns #BringbackKP’

Brave face: Managing Director of England Cricket Paul Downton (R) unveiled new England coach Peter Moore shortly after the death of his father

Pietersen’s demeanour during the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney led Downton to comment: ‘I have never seen anyone so disengaged from what was going on.’ Yet bizarrely maverick Pietersen had attended the voluntary England team Christmas lunch in Melbourne a week earlier having not done so on the previous two Ashes tours.



The ECB had been certain that he wouldn’t attend and briefed accordingly.

There was ‘nothing bigger’, said host Sue Barker in a look back at 50 Golden Years of Sport on BBC Two, than the Headingley Test during Botham’s Ashes in 1981.



Memory loss: Ian Botham's (R) unforgettable Ashes Test in 1981 wasn't accurately remembered by the BBC

Yet the BBC captioned this ‘unforgettable event’ as the Second Test when it was the Third. A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Unfortunately the wrong caption was used. We endeavour to keep mistakes to an absolute minimum.’



Snookered on funding



The £500,000 Sheffield funding of the world snooker championship at the Crucible used to be shared between the City Council and Welcome to Yorkshire.



But the tourist authority have diverted their financial support to cycling’s Grand Depart of the Tour de France, coming to the county in July.



Snookered? Sheffield Council may no longer be able to afford staging the World Championships at The Crucible

This meant Sheffield Council had to pay for the snooker themselves which has left their coffers depleted enough to lead to serious concern whether they can afford to renew the world championship contract which expires in 2015.



The Lord’s fiasco over their botched renovation of the ground — ongoing since 2009 — looks like it will run and run. Chief executive Derek Brewer is understood to be in favour of property development at the Nursery End, with £100m on offer from developers, to help pay for the full Lord’s revamp.

However, all-powerful chairman Oliver Stocken remains fully opposed and the three leading contenders to succeed him in 2015, Anthony Wreford, Phillip Hodson and Justin Dowley, are all in the Stocken camp as are influential MCC figures Mike Gatting and Angus Fraser.



Bad taste: Alex Ferguson (L) is unlikely to play a part in choosing United's next manager should David Moyes leave

The Manchester United hierarchy’s explanation for allowing former manager Sir Alex Ferguson to effectively select his successor was that it made sense to trust the judgement of someone with so much success and who was still on the payroll as a £2million-a-year ambassador.

