The English Football Association has hit back at FIFA's World Cup bidding report, after the findings criticised England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
The report suggested that England's officials 'disregarded bidding rules' as they tried to win the support of former vice-president Jack Warner, giving the bidding process and FIFA a bad image.
The FA has responded, saying that the bid was 'transparent' and that the body acted according to the rules during the time of bidding.
"We note the FIFA ethics committee has today published a 42-page report in relation to the bidding processes for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, a statement said on the FA's official website.
"We were not given any prior notice of the report before publication. We do not accept any criticism regarding the integrity of England's bid or any of the individuals involved.
"We conducted a transparent bid and, as the report demonstrates with its reference to the England bid team's 'full and valuable cooperation', willingly complied with the investigation. We maintain that transparency and cooperation around this entire process from all involved is crucial to its credibility.
"We also note that after a lengthy investigatory process and assessment, the report has concluded that the 'potentially problematic facts and circumstances identified by the report regarding the England 2018 bid were, all in all, not suited to compromise the integrity of the World Cup 2018/2022 bidding process as a whole'."
In the same report, Qatar were cleared of any wrongdoing and will go on to host the 2022 World Cup.
Sam McEvoy
