Acting FA chairman quits

The acting chairman of the Football Association (FA), Roger Burden, has stood down in protest of England’s 2018 World Cup vote failure.

Burden cited a lack of trust towards the game’s global governing body, FIFA, as a reason to withdraw his candidancy for the job on a full-time basis.

His announcement comes a day after Russia won the rights to host the 2018 World Cup, with England’s highly fancied bid receiving just two out of 22 votes from FIFA’s executive committee.

Concerns about FIFA’s credibility and decision making were heightened by the choice of Qatar to host the 2022 tournament.

“I recognise that an important part of the role is liaison with FIFA, our global governing body,” Burden said.

“I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust and I have withdrawn my candidacy,” Burden said.

“The role entails liaising with FIFA and I want nothing more to do with them.”

Burden took over as acting chairman of the FA in May from Lord Triesman who once headed the England 2018 bid.

Triesman left his job shrouded by controversy after British newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, secretly recorded his conversations in which he alleged Spanish football authorities would try to fix results at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Burden will remain acting chairman until the FA find a replacement.