30 Nov 2010

World Cup bidding lurches into final week

6:46 pm on 30 November 2010

The contest to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups has lurched into its final week with more allegations of corruption against high-ranking FIFA officials and continuing uncertainty over the number of voters.

As delegates gather for three days of lobbying before Friday morning's vote, the BBC has accused three members of FIFA's executive committee of taking bribes and a fourth of planning the corrupt sale of 2010 World Cup tickets.

FIFA's executive committee holds exclusive voting rights and has already lost two of its 24 members after they were suspended earlier this month for offering to sell their votes to undercover newspaper reporters.

The one year ban on Tahiti's Reynald Temarii leaves Oceania without a vote, although the acting president, David Chung of Papua-New Guinea, has gone to Switzerland.

FIFA's issued a statement indicating that Chung can vote only if Temarii drops his appeal and resigns.