Fifa imposes new rules on 2018 and 2022 World Cup lobbying

Fifa has imposed new rules on the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, forbidding contenders from lobbying executive committee members unless they have submitted a written request. As part of an ongoing attempt to bring order to an unwieldy procedure Fifa has written to all nine bidders outlining the new rules. Its secretary-general, Jérôme Valcke, said they must now inform the world governing body of any contact with the 24 members of the executive committee or their associations. They will be required to write to Fifa's ethics committee ahead of any "direct or indirect" contact, outlining their reasons for doing so and providing further information if necessary. Previously bidders have been free to meet and present to the various executive committee members with impunity. England's 2018 bid has already clocked up tens of thousands of miles delivering presentations around the world. Fifa said it wanted to "better monitor" contact and protect the independence of voters who noted that "various" bidders approached them, sometimes informally, during the World Cup in South Africa. Some of the 24 executive committee members, who will vote in Zurich on 11 December to decide the host nation for the 2018 tournament, were heard to complain that they had become weary of being persistently lobbied by the bidding nations. England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup was considered to have had a fruitful month in South Africa, with its international president, David Dein, leading the lobbying effort. The 2018 tournament is widely seen as a three‑horse race between Russia, England and the joint bid from Spain and Portugal. There is also a joint bid from Holland and Belgium, which is considered an outsider. Although the United States are nominally still bidding for 2018 as well, that tournament is expected to go to Europe with the Americans battling Australia and Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. Japan and the Korea Republic are also in the running for 2022. Fifa also reminded bidders of the rules on gifts for executive committee members. It says gifts must be of merely symbolic value and must not influence the bidding process. The Australian bid was recently hit by a string of allegations in its domestic press about its spending on gifts, trips and consultants. But it was exonerated by the Australian government, which is largely funding the bid, and has vowed to sue the newspapers concerned. Fifa also today outlined the process for the technical inspection visits that will begin in Japan this month and end in Qatar in September. The Fifa delegation, which now includes the South Africa 2010 chief executive, Danny Jordaan, will visit England between 23 and 26 August.