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

The Football Association has said that "media and corporate affairs consultants" were used to gather background information on other countreis' World Cup bids.

But the FA says it disclosed all its activities to ethics investigator Michael Garcia as part of his investigation into the bidding process.

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

However this and the paper's claims there is a "database" of intelligence on rival bids has not been corroborated.

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

In a statement the FA said the England 2018 team "complied with all disclosure requests" from Mr Garcia.

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.

Germany football legend Franz Beckenbauer is under investigation by American attorney Michael Garcia along with Harold Mayne-Nicholls from Chile, who headed the inspection team which compiled reports into the countries bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The investigations come after Garcia stated "a number of individuals" have had formal cases opened against them.

Three current Fifa executive committee members - Spain's Angel Maria Villar Llona, Michel D'Hooghe from Belgium and Worawi Makudi from Thailand - are under investigation by ethics chief Michael Garcia following his probe into World Cup bidding, Press Association Sport understands.

Sony does not plan to renew its sponsorship contract with FIFA, as the Japanese electronics maker needs to prioritise its restructuring efforts, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Such a move would follow Emirates Airline's announcement this month that it was ending its sponsorship of FIFA, a blow to the governing body as it investigates whether there was corruption in the bidding process for the next two World Cup competitions.

Sony has been a FIFA sponsor for the eight years to 2014 in a contract worth £180m.

Sony on Tuesday said it was aiming to restructure its television and mobile divisions further, while targeting robust growth for its electronics devices division, which houses its growing image sensors business.

Coca-Cola have hit out at Fifa over the handling of a controversial report into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments were awarded.

Ethics investigator Michael Garcia disagreed with the conclusions reached by German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, whose report exonerated the bids made by Qatar and Russia for the respective tournaments.

The drinks company, which is one of Fifa's longest-standing and biggest sponsors, issued a statement criticising the furore:

Read: Fifa lodge criminal complaint over World Cup bidding

A Fifa executive committee member was reported to the world governing body's ethics committee after asking for "hard cash" in return for votes during bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup - but no action was taken, it has been claimed.

Les Murray, an Australian who was on the Fifa ethics committee at the time, claims he reported the request to his superiors after being informed of it by people working for the Australia 2022 bid.

It is thought the member in question asked for $5million in order to build a sports centre in exchange for his vote.

Murray wrote on his SBS blog: "Three years ago, when I was still on the FIFA ethics committee, I was informed by sources inside the Australian bid team that a member of the FIFA executive committee was asking the Australians for hard cash in return for votes.

"I reported this information up the chain of the ethics committee at the time, as was my duty, but I see no mention of it in Eckert's report."