England will quit FIFA, threatens sports minister

In what is threatening to take the soccer world by storm, England sports minister Hugh Robertson now has threatened that England might just break away from FIFA unless the apex body in the sport addresses corruption charges levied against some of it's officials.

Lord Triesman, the former chairman of FA, had earlier alleged that the bidding process for the 2018 soccer World Cup was fraught with underhand dealings in the initial stages, especially mentioning Concacaf president Jack Warner of asking for 2.5 million pounds to build a school and offices in Trinidad. The allegations were made in a parliamentary inquiry to ascertain why England lost the bid eventually. Triesman had also trained his guns on Paraguayan Fifa executive Nicolas Leoz who, he said, had asked for knighthood. Read full report here.

Despite a strong-worded statement made early on Wednesday by FIFA president Sepp Blatter that all charges will be looked into seriously, Robertson has said that if FIFA is unable to do so, 'all options will be open.' Also read: Blatter promises thorough check

Urging FIFA to adopt more transparency, the minister told BBC Live Radio that bidding countries for any sporting event should not have any doubt that the process is free and fair.

Interestingly, allegations were also made against England's bid which brought in PM Cameroon, Prince Williams and David Beckham that the contingent used spies to pry on rival bidders. Read report here