Russia deny dirty tricks in 2018 World Cup chase

Russia's 2018 World Cup bid chief insisted last night his campaign has had no part in a dirty tricks war against England.

Conspiracy theories have grown in recent weeks after the Lord Triesman row and the false affair allegations against bid ambassador David Beckham, with fingers being pointed in the direction of Moscow.

But Russian bid head Alexei Sorokin maintained he has clean hands and suggested any damage to the England bid was self-inflicted.

Speaking at the Leaders in Football Conference, Sorokin said: "We usually don't comment on rumours and the things you just mentioned.

"The only thing I can say is that we have been observing the rules very strictly. We haven't given FIFA any hard time with stupid complaints or fake scandals and we intend to do so until the end of the race.

"We have been focused on the benefits of our bid and will be for the next two months.

"I honestly do not think it has any ramification on Russia whatsoever. The ideas that are floating around are ludicrous. We are just sad for our English fellow competitors that it happened to them this way. I honestly do not think that is going to be a factor for the progress of their bid."

While England have promised to make a £161million profit from ticket sales alone, Sorokin was unable to confirm any figures other than a £6billion cost for stadium building.

And with the Russian campaign badly hurt by the racism row over West Brom's Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie's move from Lokomotiv Moscow, Sorokin claimed: "Racism and its manifestations is a universal problem for the football world, no matter where you are.

"We can't take one minor outbreak here and there and blow a tendency out of it. There is a very strong voice in Rusia that condemns racism and sanctions against it. We do not perceive ourselves as a country that has a problem with that.

"No matter where you are, if you have a large group of people there is always one or two who mess it up for everybody. They don't represent a trend. They want to show themselves.

"The Russian people are very open and hospitable. If you ask the average Russia these questions about racism they wouldn't understand you, they wouldn't understand what you are talking about, honestly. This does not represent our mindset. It is something that is severely overblown."

FIFA's executive committee will vote on the 2018 host in Zurich on Decvember 2 and England bid ambassador Gary Lineker said: "All we can keep doing is banging on the door and telling everyone how strong our bid is.

"Hopefully they will open our door and not someone else's. We have so much in place already. The list of attributes is endless - great stadia, great atmospheres, a multi-cultural society which guarantees every team would have great support here.

"Economically it would be a very viable bid after a couple of World Cups where they have got massive infrastructure issues. England would be real safe pair of hands in 2018, no doubt."