West Ham, who are now 3 points adrift at the foot of the table, are now 1/2 for the drop.

FIFA Executive Committee member Franz Beckenbauer says he has “limited” faith in FIFA after the way it dealt with the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on December 2 and the subsequent fallout.

Two of the favourites to stage the events, England and Australia, received just two votes and one vote respectively, and Beckenbauer, who was one of the 22 committee members eligible to vote, feels betrayed by FIFA for revealing such statistics.

He says that the ballot should have remained secret and that nobody, not even he, should ever have known how many votes had been cast for each individual candidate, and in each round.

“The Executive Committee was told that neither we nor the public would get to know the precise voting figures,” he told Bild.

“After each round of voting, we were only told which candidate had been knocked out. And then a few hours later, I hear on the radio who had received how many votes. My faith in FIFA is limited.”

Since the vote FIFA has spent more of its time criticising the losers rather than praising the winners, according to Beckenbauer.

“I am disappointed with the way FIFA have dealt with the results after the vote,” he added. “They have made a disgrace of the seven defeated nations, particularly England and Australia.”

West Ham, who are now 3 points adrift at the foot of the table, are now 1/2 for the drop.

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