Geoff Thompson today said the investigations by Panorama and the Sunday Times into FIFA were partly to blame for England's failure to win the right to stage the 2018 World Cup.
The Englishman was one of only two members of FIFA's executive committee to vote for our bid last week, with Russia eventually winning the poll.
Three days before the vote in Zurich, BBC's Panorama accused three FIFA members of bribery and alleged FIFA vice-president Jack Warner tried to supply ticket touts. It followed the Sunday Times investigation which saw six FIFA senior officials banned for offences including corruption.
Yesterday, Warner said: "Suffice it to say that the FIFA ExCo as a body could not have voted for England having been insulted by their media in the worst possible way."
Thompson today, speaking publicly for the first time since the vote, told Sky News: "Time is a great healer. The newspapers and Panorama didn't help."
There was further controversy last week with FIFA, led by Sepp Blatter, choosing Qatar as 2022 hosts. Thompson added: "We are moving into new territories. If that was in FIFA's mind they should have said that in the bidding documents. I don't think it was anti-FA."
