Why the rest of the world is rubbing their hands with glee as England's 2018 bid lurches into crisis - Martin Lipton's big tea-time read
The bunting went out at Wembley today, as the would-be hosts of the 2018 World Cup games made their pitches to FA chiefs.
But much as the good news story was being told, the rival cities proving just how much football is ingrained in the culture of the country, the danger is that all the effort could be utterly redundant unless all parts of the game show they really mean it.
Premier League chief Sir David Richards' infantile strop in resigning from the 2018 bid board in a fit of pique was, of course, about more than it was presented at face value.
Richards loathes FA chairman Lord Triesman, believing the former politician is an interfering, no-nothing party apparatchik, who has come into the FA determined to undermine the League and all it stands for.
The total breakdown of their personal relationship was no surprise, given the way the animosity has intensified, with Triesman determined that he will not back down and be seen as a lap-dog of the Premier League.
Richards' hope that his resignation would see others jump over the parapet to force Triesman out of football, rather than just the bid, does not appear to have been realised at this stage, with the FA chairman mobilising internal support to see off the first stage of the attempted putsch.
But the damage to England's bid cannot be denied.
In Spain and Russia, particularly, they are rubbing their hands with glee.
The message is a simple one: If the FA and the Premier League are at loggerheads, they are not serious about bidding. And if the English game cannot get its act together at this stage, why can anybody trust them to deliver anything?
But while the 2018 bid is at a critical point, a whole year out from the big FIFA decision, at least Portsmouth have done the right thing by appointing Avram Grant.
The Israeli was always the right man for the job and keeping him waiting before offering him the post was a mistake.
At least that has been rectified now, although a fixture list that includes Manchester United, Liverpol, Chelsea and Arsenal in the next six games is not what you need when you are already bottom of the league.
For Grant, it should be seen as a no-lose scenario. Keep Pompey up, and he will get some credit, at last. Fail to do so, and nobody in their right mind will blame him.
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