Japan's Fifa executive committee member has told the BBC that England's World Cup bid humiliation may have been a result of a backlash against the British media.

Junji Ogura, long considered one of England's closest allies, praised the strength of the England bid and its presentation despite the fact that it crashed out of the voting process in round one, eliminated after picking up only two votes.

"I thought England was a very strong candidate," said Ogura. "Their presentation was one of the best presentations.

It's totally complicated, nobody will say which country they voted for.

Junji Ogura
"But I think there was a big influence from the BBC and the Sunday Times. These reports possibly influenced people. It made damage for some people."

Russia was eventually named as hosts of the 2018 World Cup, beating Spain-Portugal and the Netherlands-Belgium in Thursday's election.

One of England's votes came from their own executive committee member Geoff Thompson, but there has been much speculation over the identity of the other voter.

Thompson and the England 2018 bid team believe African football president Issa Hayatou was their only foreign backer. Asked whether he had been the other person to vote for England, Ogura said: "I cannot say anything. It's totally complicated. Nobody will say which country they voted for."

Story is simply speculation but if Hayatou truly voted for England, then na big MUMU im be.

Nonsense!

it was the Japanese member that voted for England

Why would Hayatou vote for a country that demonised the SA world cup over the last 5 years

Help us with a link.

England deserve to win the bid for 2018 W/C. Hayatou voted for the best.