Footballers play enough games as it is. Why the English FA decided earlier this year that its national team will face Thailand in a friendly in May 2011, at a time when footballers would rather be closer to a beach than a football pitch is, perhaps, rather mind boggling.

It was obvious, many commented once the fixture was confirmed, that the friendly will take place simply to please Jack Warner, one of 21 FIFA delegates who had to choose yesterday which, among England, Russia, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands, was more suited to host the World Cup in eight years’ time.

In the end, all England’s efforts were in vain as Russia was awarded the right to host the 2018 World Cup, with Qatar given the right to host the following tournament in 2022. But this just goes to show the lengths to which countries are going to when aspiring to host a World Cup; such is the red tape and bureaucracy running between the corridors at the headquarters of FIFA, football’s governing body, in Zurich these days.

The tension yesterday was palpable, it was hearts in mouths stuff and the world was hooked.

But sadly this wasn’t the final few minutes of a World Cup final.

After months of intense lobbying, and a bidding campaign which was riddled with scandals and corruption from the off, FIFA gave Russia what its population had long been waiting for.

It was a surprise in many ways, with the Spain-Portugal and England bids appearing as favourites when the bidding campaign reached fever pitch.

The number of delegates who voted yesterday should have, of course, been 23, were it not for the two who were suspended after reporters from a British newspaper allegedly caught the pair soliciting bribes in exchange for their vote.

Whether FIFA suspended these two delegates because it didn’t want its already damaged reputation tarnished further, or whether it was because it had to put on a braver face than it wanted, remains unknown.

Once the euphoria subsides, what a lot of people want to know is what really happened behind closed doors, how much money was splashed around and how many backhanders were given.

Football should not be about men dressed in suits and ties, who watch games in corporate boxes while munching, as Roy Keane once famously said, on prawn sandwiches. It should be about the players, the fans, the communities.

It is, after all, the people’s game.

If governments, sports icons and high ranking officials are more worried about pleasing FIFA delegates from Thailand, Guatemala and Cyprus, then something is fundamentally wrong with the game.

England’s slogan during its bidding campaign ran: “we will be united and the world will be invited”.

Can the same be said for the persons at the top running “the beautiful game?”

In the meantime, congratulations to both Russia and Qatar, who will surely host two memorable tournaments.