PR expert compares England bid to relegation

Public relations expert Mike Lee has dubbed England’s bid to stage the 2018 World Cup as ‘relegation’-worthy.

Lee was part of Qatar’s successful 2022 bid to stage the event, ensuring the FIFA World Cup will be held in the Middle East for the first time.

Qatar’s victory was somewhat surprising, given the strength of other bids they challenged. But England – expected to be a very good chance of hosting the 2018 event – were bundled out in the first round of voting with just two votes.

The backlash in England has been strong, with acting FA chairman Roger Burden declaring he had no interest in winning the job permanently due to the fact he did not want to be involved with FIFA.

The FA have cancelled a planned friendly in Thailand and are said to be not interested in playing friendlies for political reasons in the future.

But instead of playing the blame-game, Lee suggests criticism should be directed at the bid campaign.

“This England bid campaign was not (English) Premier League, it was relegation and League One,” Lee said.

“I’m not sure it is healthy to blame everyone else, and not reflect on the campaign itself.”

Lee particularly criticized the role of the former head of the 2018 bid, Lord Triesman, who had to resign in May after he was secretly taped speaking to The Mail on Sunday about Spain’s attempts to bribe referees at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“It was clear to everybody that Lord Triesman was not the right choice. He was not popular among his fellow colleagues here in English football. He was terribly unpopular in international football and for nearly 60 percent of the campaign we were hampered,” Lee said.

“As you look back from the choice of the wrong bid leader in the first instance through to alienating the Premier League and a series of PR own goals, it has not been a success.”

In light of Burden’s withdrawal of interest in the FA post, Lee urged the governing body of football in England to appoint former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein as its chairman and backed David Beckham to continue his ambassadorial role.

“This is an opportunity to appoint someone who knows the game at both club and national team level and also has experience of the international football environment,” he said.

“In my view, David Dein does have all of those credentials and I do think he would make an ideal candidate.”

“It might also be smart to sign up David Beckham as an international ambassador and work with him to explore what role he could play once his playing career is over.”