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FA did seek 'background information' on rival World Cup bids

The Football Association has admitted that "media and corporate affairs consultants" were used to gather background information on the bidding process for the World Cup.

The Sunday Times has published claims that officials received information from former MI6 staff about the Russian and Qatari World Cup bids.

In a statement the FA said all its activities had been declared to Fifa ethics investigator Michael Garcia as part of his investigation into the bids.

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Claims officials 'used information from ex-spies for World Cup probe'

England officials allegedly used information gathered by former MI6 agents about Russia and Qatar's World Cup bids, the Sunday Times reports.

The claims are contained in a dossier compiled by the paper that has been submitted to Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport select committee.

According to the paper, a secret intelligence database linked to England's bid for the 2018 tournament includes unproven claims that Russia and Qatar swapped votes with each other to help ensure their bids were successful.

Among the allegations is that the Russian bid team handed out valuable paintings to officials from other countries to help secure votes.

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FA did seek 'background information' on rival World Cup bids

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