Fifa officials 'offer to sell 2018 World Cup bid votes'

Two Fifa officials have offered to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup, according to a Sunday Times report.

The newspaper has video footage in which Nigerian Amos Adamu, a Fifa executive committee member, appears to ask for £500,000.
This is completely against Fifa rules.
And Oceania Football Confederation president Reynald Temarii, wanted money for a sports academy for his vote, the newspaper alleged.
England are competing to host the tournament in eight years time, as well as Russia and joint bids from Spain and Portugal and Holland and Belgium.
A 24-strong committee will decide by secret ballot on 2 December who should host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The footage, filmed by undercover Sunday Times journalists, shows Adamu wanting money to be paid to him directly for endorsing a bid.

The reporters had posed as lobbyists for a United States bid. The US decided on Friday to withdraw from the running for the 2018 World Cup and instead concentrate on the 2022 competition.
In the video, Adamu was asked whether the money for a "private project" would have an effect on the way he voted, he replied: "Obviously, it will have an effect. Of course it will. Because certainly if you are to invest in that, that means you also want the vote."
Fifa has so far not responded to the allegations.

Hicks is desperate to avoid selling the club to Henry's NESV

Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have removed the restraining order preventing the club's sale to New England Sports Ventures.

However, the move is not designed to help NESV seal its £300m deal, but to aid Hicks in his attempt to sell his stake to US hedge fund Mill Financial.

The club is hoping to tie up a deal with NESV on Friday, but Hicks believes he can still scupper its plan.
Mill could then pay off the £237m debt owed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
NESV's deal was being held up by the restraining order, which was issued by a court in Texas. The court is set to resume its hearing at 1300 BST on Friday, when it is expected that the order will be officially lifted.

DAVID BOND'S BLOG Should Hicks succeed [in a deal with Mill Financial], an already complicated story will become even more bewildering BBC sports editor David Bond

BBC Sport understands the overnight adjournment in proceedings in the US was to enable Hicks to have more time in his attempt to strike a deal with Mill Financial.
BBC Sports editor David Bond said: "The restraining order prevents any other buyer - such as Mill - from paying off the £237m loan to Royal Bank of Scotland, due on Friday, because it binds RBS as well as the board of Liverpool and its parent companies based in the UK. "
Now it appears as though Mill - who already own co-owner George Gillett's stake in the club - and NESV are vying for control of the Anfield club, with Reds chairman Martin Broughton and managing director Christian Purslow both saying on Friday they are "confident" a deal with NESV will go through.
NESV owner John W Henry added on his Twitter feed: "We have a binding contract. Will fight Mill Hicks Gillett attempt to keep club today. Their last desperate attempt to entrench their regime."
The Reds must pay off their loan to RBS on Friday to avoid the threat of administration, which could see Liverpool hit by a nine-point penalty in the Premier League, though that is unlikely with a sale imminent.

LIVERPOOL OWNERSHIP TIMELINE 16 April: Club put up for sale by Hicks & Gillett 4 October: Club receive two "excellent bids", one from NESV, one from Asia 5 Oct: Hicks & Gillett seek to remove Purslow & Ayre from Liverpool board 6 Oct: Board agrees to sell club to NESV for £300m 8 Oct: Premier League clears NESV to continue with takeover 12 Oct: Hicks & Gillett lawyers admit breach of RBS contracts by trying to sack board members 13 Oct: High Court rules against Hicks & Gillett, allowing NESV sale 13 Oct: Hicks and Gillett gain restraining order on the sale in Texas court 14 Oct: High Court rules Hicks & Gillett injunction is ineffective 14 Oct: New hearing begins in Dallas, adjourned until Friday

On Thursday night, Broughton said: "Mr Henry is very committed. My guess is we'll have it done and he'll be there [the Merseyside derby against Everton on Sunday] - but we've got to get rid of this order first."
Sports lawyer Graham Shears also gave Liverpool fans some hope that they will avoid administration, telling BBC Radio 5 live: "The bank don't have to stick with their deadline, they can give a little leeway.
"But I'm sure they're reluctant as they want to be repaid. They've already given a lot of extra time here."
Liverpool board members will be concerned that the potential sale to NESV has gone down to the last day as Hicks and Gillett have continuously sought to prevent the purchase of the club they bought in 2007 for £174m.
It looked as though that prospect might be avoided after the latest High Court ruling on Thursday when Mr Justice Floyd issued an anti-suit injunction that rendered Hicks and Gillett's temporary restraining order, which they put in place to try and prevent a sale taking place, ineffective.
But the anxiety of Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre will last well into Friday as a hearing which began in Texas on Thursday, following the latest High Court ruling, was adjourned until 1300 BST (0700 local time).
A statement issued on behalf of the Liverpool board read: "The independent directors of Liverpool Football Club are delighted with the verdict of Mr Justice Floyd in the High Court [on Thursday] which now requires Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett to withdraw their Texas restraining order by 1600 BST on Friday.
"We are glad to have taken another important step towards completing the sale process."

We're nearly there. We've still got to take away the restraining order Reds chairman Martin Broughton

It all has a familiar air to it after Wednesday's events, when an original High Court ruling, allowing the sale to go through, was blocked by an injunction taken out by Hicks and Gillett in a Texas court.
Time is running out for Hicks and Gillett, with Mr Justice Floyd giving the much-criticised owners until 1600 BST on Friday to withdraw their legal action in America, or face charges of contempt of court.
NESV, owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, also plan to make their own submission to the Dallas court to overturn the injunction obtained by Hicks and Gillett.
The American co-owners claim that Broughton, Purslow and Ayre have attempted to sell the club for "a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value".
The details of their injunction also disclose that the pair are seeking more than $1.6bn (£1bn) in damages.
Gillett's 50% stake is already owned by Mill Financial after he defaulted on a £75m loan from RBS in August.
Mr Justice Floyd described Hicks and Gillett's conduct in the matter as "unconscionable" while Richard Snowden QC, representing RBS, said the duo's behaviour was "outrageous", adding that the proceedings in Texas were "plainly inappropriate".
During Thursday's hearing in London, David Chivers QC, representing NESV, said his clients already considered themselves to be Liverpool's new owners.
And Henry was later seen entering the London offices of Liverpool's solicitors Slaughter and May for a meeting with the board.
Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, who was thought to be waiting in the wings with an offer for the club, withdrew his £320m bid on Thursday.
"The [Liverpool] board is intent on selling the club to NESV to the exclusion of all other parties, regardless of the merits of their bids," he said.
Liverpool, who face Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday, are in the bottom three in the Premier League table after picking up only six points from their opening seven games.
Should the club be put into administration, it would leave them rooted to the bottom of the table on minus three points.

Liverpool's new owner John W Henry has pledged to tackle

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Henry 'extremely happy' with Liverpool buy

Liverpool's new owner John W Henry has pledged to tackle the club's problems both on and off the field "head-on".

NESV, which Henry heads, completed its takeover of Liverpool on Friday after a bitter battle in the UK and US courts.

Henry said he was "proud and humbled" and "here to win" but added: "We're going to have to work very hard.

"There's a lot of work to be done to get this club to where it needs to be in the grand scheme of things but we're going to be attacking this head-on."

NESV finally wrested control of Liverpool from previous owner Tom Hicks and US hedge fund Mill Financial on Friday with a £300m takeover which also drastically reduced its debts.

Hicks is threatening legal action over the sale, which he claims massively undervalued the club, but for now Henry is more concerned with reviving Liverpool's fortunes on the pitch and addressing its pressing need for a new stadium or major development of Anfield.

JOHN W HENRY PROFILE There is no reliable estimation of his net worth, and Mr Henry does not give any indications himself  Finlo Rohrer, BBC News, Washington

"We really, through all the work we've done over the last two months, saw the challenges and problems which exist and we've got to work to address those," said Henry, who also owns US baseball team the Boston Red Sox.

"There is a great nucleus here off the field and on the field and we think we can build from that, but it's not going to be easy.

"We've got real challenges but we've got a very strong organisation, financially and otherwise, we have some terrific strategic thinkers."

Henry said the dilemma over whether to build a new stadium or upgrade Anfield's current 45,000 capacity was similar to the one confronting NESV when they acquired the Red Sox and their Fenway Park home in 2002.

"The stadium issue was a big issue in Boston. We went in there not knowing what we should do - build a new ballpark or refurbish, and we have the same issue here," he told Liverpool's website.

Liverpool have long been planning to build a 60,000-seater stadium at Stanley Park, near their current Anfield home, but work has yet to begin because of problems with funding.

606: DEBATE What do you think about Henry's stadium comments?

Henry added: "We have to listen, learn, talk to the community, talk to the council, talk with the supporters. But the biggest issue of all is really what makes the most sense for Liverpool, long term."

Liverpool play Everton in the Merseyside derby on Sunday and Toffees manager David Moyes said on Friday he would be interested if the opportunity arose for a groundshare with the Reds.

That may be one option Henry looks at as he sets about the "real challenges" in trying to restore Liverpool to former glories, as he did with the Red Sox.

The Red Sox have won the World Series twice since Henry bought the club, having not previously been winners since 1918, while Liverpool are English football's most decorated club but have not won a league title since 1990.

The proposed new stadium would seat 60,000 fans

Henry admitted, though, that there were times this week when he thought his acquisition of the Merseyside giants, with 18 league titles and five European Cup wins to their name, was going to be thwarted.

"There were many days where I was wondering whether or not we would be going home," said Henry, who surprisingly turned up when Liverpool held a board meeting on Wednesday evening in London.

"In fact, even on Friday I wasn't 100% confident. There were days where I was confident but there were a lot of twists and turns here. I'm just happy it ended successfully."