Just who the devil does Jack Warner think he is?

Last week the FIFA vice-president lashed out at England and their chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup.

“There are moves to give it to England. I must fight that. It will be Italy, Spain or even France who will get the World Cup if it goes to Europe. Nobody in Europe likes England. England invented the sport but has never made any impact on World football. For Europe, England is an irritant,” he said.

Well Mr Warner, I think you are a waste of oxygen.

How on earth did someone with so few brain cells in evidence manage to end up as the vice-president of football’s governing body? Surely there should be some sort of criteria in place for people aspiring to jobs like that - not being stupid, for example.

As far as I know, one of the key aims of FIFA these days is to stamp out racism. Yet Warner’s ill-advised comments are racist in the extreme.

The truth is Warner, president of Concacaf which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, wants the World Cup in 2018 to be held somewhere in his back yard.

Fair enough. That’s his job. To try everything he can to bring the world’s biggest sporting tournament to his region.

But there are ways and means of promoting yourself, ways which don’t involve making venomous statements about your competitors.

The truth is that England is very, very well placed to host the tournament. Hooliganism, unlike in some other European countries, has been all but eradicated. Racism in English grounds is a thing of the past. The stadia themselves are top notch and set to get even better when places like Stanley Park are completed. And by the time 2018 comes round it will have been more than half a century since England last hosted the tournament.

And if Warner wants to talk about contributions to world football maybe he should take a look closer to home and tell us exactly what it is that his home country of Trinidad and Tobago has “contributed” to the beautiful game? Dwight Yorke. That’s it.

I wonder if Warner’s attitude has anything to do with the fact that an English television programme investigated him and his son for illegally re-selling World Cup tickets back in 2006? Hmmm?

As much as I would love England to be awarded the tournament in 2018, my main hope now is that the World Cup is never awarded to Concacaf while Warner is its president.

And I will leave you with the words of another member of FIFA’s executive committee. A man who has played in World Cups, won World Cups and organised World Cups. A man with proper football pedigree from a proper football country.

“There is no better country in Europe to host the World Cup in 2018. England is the favourite. The Premier League at the moment is the best league in Europe and the stadiums are outstanding. In my opinion there is only one very serious candidate and it is England.”

Thank you Mr Franz Beckenbauer.

Not best start for

Man United

Not the best start to the season for Champions Manchester United was it?

Bad enough failing to break down a stubborn Reading. Even worse finding out that Wayne Rooney has a hairline fracture and could spend up to two months on the sidelines.

Luckily for Sir Alex, he has plenty of attack-minded players in reserve who can fill the void - Nani, Anderson and Tevez, for example, are not too shabby when it comes to hitting the back of the net.

The joys of strength in depth…

David Beckham

It’s looking like America’s love affair with David Beckham may turn out to be one of the shortest in history.

Old goldenballs has so far managed about half an hour of football for LA Galaxy thanks to an ankle injury he picked up playing for England a couple of months ago.

For most European clubs that would be no big deal. We are used to our stars getting injured and sitting out big chunks of the season. But it seems the Americans are somewhat more impatient to the extent that Becks was actually booed by his own fans during their last game when he failed to make an appearance on the pitch.

Added to that is the ammunition this absence is giving to opposing fans with Dallas supporters bringing out a banner during their recent match saying “Bench it like Beckham.” Class.

Things are certainly not going as planned for the man who was supposed to make ‘soccer’ a proper sport in the US of A.

What odds on him being back in the Premiership by Christmas…

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