As usual cuddly Ken says what he thinks:
Let's break away from FIFA, says Ken Bates
KEN Bates has urged the major European football nations to break away from FIFA in the wake of England's failed 2018 World Cup bid.
FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia, with England's bid securing only two votes from the 22 members of FIFA's executive committee, and the 2022 tournament was handed to Qatar.
Leeds chairman Bates reacted by branding FIFA "a waste of space".
Bates said: "I'm of the opinion that the big European nations should resign from FIFA and start their own organisation.
"If they (FIFA) didn't have Spain, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom there wouldn't be a FIFA. There wouldn't be a UEFA for that matter.
"The only way to deal with FIFA is to withdraw from it and let them get on with it.
"FIFA are a two-bob organisation above any law and should be treated with the contempt they deserve.
"It's a case of the tail wagging the dog. We have little Jack Warner standing in the corner, Oceania, the Caribbean, and the oil states. All that happens is they keep giving the votes to Blatter so he stays there in power.
"The fact of the matter is we (England) have the best stadiums and the best infrastructure. If you think of the disaster of the Champions League final in Moscow a couple of years ago when people were being billeted 100 miles away it's a joke.
"And as for Qatar - I always think someone is clearing their throat when they say that. How are they going to develop football? Australia, who have all the stadia and put a tremendous Olympics on, would have put on a great show.
"FIFA is a waste of space. It's a money making organisation and I don't think they give a damn about football."
Asked if each individual footballing nation should have a seperate vote, rather than FIFA's executive committee, Bates added: "Should the Bahamas have the same vote as England? Should Andorra have the same as Germany? No, it's rubbish, we should form an elite association of countries."
