Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

The Football Association has refused to comment on newspaper claims its chairman Lord Triesman said Spain was planning to bribe World Cup referees.

Triesman alleged in the Mail on Sunday Spain could end its bid to host the 2018 World Cup if rival bidder Russia helped bribe referees in South Africa.

The 66-year-old Labour peer alleged that votes from Spanish Fifa members would then switch to Russia for 2018.

"Spain are looking for help…to bribe the referees," he was quoted as saying.

Apart from the damage to the standing of Triesman and the FA that may be created within the Fifa corridors of power by the Mail on Sunday’s reported bribery allegation, the world governing body’s rules prohibit World Cup bidders from talking about rival bids.

BBC Radio 5 Live’s sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said: "There has been no comment from the FA or the 2018 bid team so far.

"The FA did try and fail to get an injunction against publication of the story on privacy grounds.

"The story makes uncomfortable reading. The FA and 2018 bid chairman was seemingly unaware his unguarded comments in a private conversation were being recorded.

"Most damaging is his apparent speculation about possible collusion between Spain and Russia to bribe referees in South Africa.

"He reportedly suggests in return for Russian help in targeting officials, Spain could drop out of the race to stage the 2018 World Cup.

"There’s likely to be a furious reaction from both the Spanish and Russian FAs and Lord Triesman is surely to come under considerable pressure to resign."

The revelations come just two days after former England captain David Beckham helped the FA submit a 1,752-page bid book as they try to persuade Fifa to award England the 2018 World Cup.

Fifa chief Sepp Blatter had already spoken in glowing terms of England’s bid which includes 12 towns and cities from Sunderland to Plymouth, calling it "the easiest bid in the world" – but also described the plans put forward by Russia as "remarkable."

After the good publicity that was generated by the 2018 team and Beckham on Friday it remains to be seen what effect Triesman’s reported comments are likely to have on the FA’s 2018 bid.

From its inception the bid has been troubled by infighting with senior members resigning from the board while Triesman’s leadership has also been questioned.

In October the 2018 bid was criticised by Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa’s successful 2010 campaign.

A month later former Birmingham City director Karen Brady, who was one of six board members to stand down, said that England’s hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup were in danger of being undermined by internal politics among the bid team

"There’s been bickering, infighting and disruption," she told BBC Radio 5 live at the time.

In November a senior member of Fifa’s executive committee returned a handbag given to his wife as a gift by the England bidding team.

Triesman is not the first senior figure to be embarrassed by a newspaper’s reported revelations.

In 2004 chief executive Mark Palios resigned in the wake of the scandal over England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson’s affair with Faria Alam, a secretary at the FA.

The latest story was taken from a conversation Triesman reportedly had with a former civil servant aide.

The Mail on Sunday quotes Triesman as saying: "There’s some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees…and pay them.

"My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they’ve not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia."

A European bid is tipped to get the 2018 tournament with England up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.

The other bidders, although they are mainly focused on the 2022 tournament, are Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.

In the reported tape recorded conversation with former aide Melissa Jacobs, Triesman also talks openly about the John Terry scandal, the governance of Premier League football clubs and criticises former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s election campaign as "awful."

Triesman reportedly said ex-England captain Terry did not feel he had done anything wrong over his affair with former club and country team-mate Wayne Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher has been penalised for overtaking Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso when it was not allowed at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.

The decision adds 20 seconds to the German’s race time, demoting him to 12th place and putting Alonso sixth.

Schumacher passed Alonso on his way out of Rascasse and into Anthony Noghes, but the move came under a safety car.

The stewards, who included Schumacher’s old rival Damon Hill, ruled that the German had breached safety rules.

More to follow

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Thai protesters have stood their ground in Bangkok, defying a vow from PM Abhisit Vejjajiva to use the military to stop them toppling his government.

One protest leader said Thailand was close to "civil war" after clashes in Bangkok between protesters and soldiers that have left 24 people dead.

The fighting flared as the army moved to isolate a fortified protest camp.

Mr Abhisit said he was considering a curfew in Bangkok and has postponed the new school term in the city for a week.

Thousands of people who say Mr Abhisit came to power undemocratically remain behind makeshift barricades of rubber tyres, sandbags and bamboo stakes in the Ratchaprasong commercial district.

The protesters are known as red-shirts, after the colour they have adopted.

They want the prime minister to step down to make way for new elections.

Army ‘prepared’

In a televised address on Saturday, Mr Abhisit said the army would not back down in its operation to clear the protesters.

"We cannot leave the country in a situation where people who don’t obey the law are holding hostage the people of Bangkok, as well as the centre of the country," he said.

"We can’t allow a situation where people set up armed groups and overthrow the government because they don’t agree with it."

Mr Abhisit has said that a few armed "terrorists" are among the protesters.

An army spokesman said the military was planning to enter the protesters’ camp if they did not disperse, but gave no timetable.

"There is a plan to crack down on Ratchaprasong if the protest does not end," said the spokesman, Col Sunsern Kaewkumnerd.

"But authorities will not set a deadline because without effective planning there will be more loss of life."

The BBC’s Chris Hogg in Bangkok says the army’s actions are like squeezing a balloon full of water – they are just pushing protesters into a different part of the city.

Black smoke drifted into the air over Bangkok on Sunday morning but the streets were mostly quiet after three days of fierce battles that saw soldiers fire live rounds and rubber bullets at protesters who threw stones, petrol bombs and shot fireworks in return.

The army has declared live fire zones in some areas as it attempted to cut off the camp from supplies and reinforcements.

Some 170 people have been injured since the latest violence broke out on Thursday, and 27 people have been sent to jail, each given six-month sentences. All the fatalities have been civilians.

More than 50 people have been killed and at least 1,500 wounded in total since the protests began in mid-March, Thai officials have said.

Despite claims by the Thai government that the situation was under control and its soldiers had only fired in self-defence, army snipers have been accused of targeting protesters. Footage from Bangkok on Saturday showed red-shirts dragging gunshot victims to safety.

The violence escalated on Thursday after a renegade general who supports the protests was shot in the head by an unknown gunman.

Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng (Commander Red), is in a critical condition.

National divisions

The latest clashes have raised questions about the stability of Thailand, South-East Asia’s second-largest economy.

"The current situation is almost full civil war," said one of the protest leaders, Jatuporn Prompan. "I am not sure how this conflict will end."

Many of the protesters are from poor rural areas in northern Thailand where support is still strong for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

They say Mr Abhisit was put into power in a parliamentary vote by an alliance of the Bangkok elite and the military and want him to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

He had offered polls in November – but the two sides failed to agree a deal because of divisions over who should be held accountable for a deadly crackdown on protests last month.

Mr Thaksin has called on the government to withdraw troops and restart negotiations. He is living abroad to avoid a jail term on a corruption conviction.

Are you in or close to the protest camp in Bangkok? What is the situation in the area? Are you worried there’ll be more violence? Send us your comments Click here to add comments..

You can send your pictures to [email protected], text them to +44 7725 100 100 or you have a large file you can click here to upload.

Click here to see terms and conditions

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.