The announcement in Zurich last week that the opportunity to host the football World Cup for 2018 and 2022 had been awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, has led to widespread cries of ‘foul’ across the British media, fuelled by invective from aggrieved England bid team members.
The national papers were full of anti FIFA, Russia and Qatar stories, revelations that vote winning friendlies had been removed from the England team calendar and even that Sepp Blatter’s suite at the Dorchester for the 2012 London Olympics had been cancelled in a fit of pique. London Mayor Boris Johnston went so far as to suggest (tongue in cheek) that the SAS should be sent to FIFA headquarters, in its bunker above Zurich, to sort them out!
The outpouring of national grief was tantamount to a hissy fit from a coach of an under 10s team upset that his team hadn’t won a Saturday morning football tournament on Wormwood Scrubs. English football has always suffered a terrible reputation for its attitude towards officials administering the rules of the game, and so the antics following the vote in Zurich going against the run of play was largely predictable. Only Prince William and David Beckham showed any modicum of sporting decency.
Of course there is an argument that FIFA is an organisation with a wonky moral compass and could never be trusted. If we know this to be true, wouldn’t it have been better to stay as far away as possible and let other fools run the risk of ridicule? But what are the lessons to be learned from this sorry spectacle for businesses in a pitch situation?
Firstly it is important to get the pre-pitch offensive going as soon as you learn that you are on the short list. This is the most important phase, as by the time the presentation day arrives there will be a hot favourite among the selection panel and your only chance of winning is if they mess up big time. And try and avoid your Chairman being recorded making allegations of corruption against the opposing bids.
Hopefully most companies will have already taken on board that dealing with people you don’t trust is foolhardy and that chucking your toys out the pram if you lose a pitch will have two implications. The company you pitched to ensures you will never, ever work for them or any of the subsidiaries in the future and they are likely to tell all their peers that your company should be avoided at all costs.
The same rule could be adopted by companies receiving less than perfect media coverage who berate the journalist and thus wreck their relations for the future. A quiet word pointing out mistakes is fair enough but ranting down the phone is likely to be detrimental to your long term media coverage prospects.
The only winner in this sorry escapade was the lucky firm who won the contract to produce the England bid book and charged £3m for the privilege. The fact that it cost £1m per reader will no doubt be another grievance placed at the door of the FIFA bunker.
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