England's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup started with a public-relations embarrassment after it emerged British National Party politician Richard Barnbrook was among those at the campaign launch at Wembley.
David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Football Association chairman Lord Triesman all spoke at the national stadium, where the presence of Barnbrook angered some of the audience.
An England 2018 spokesman said: "All elected members of the GLA (Greater London Authority) were invited to the launch. We recognise that the presence of one elected member, who is playing no part in the England 2018 bid, has caused offence and we apologise."
He added: "He should not have been present at the event and will not be at any in the future."
Bid officials had been hoping for a positive start to the campaign, with chief executive Andy Anson vowing to learn from the mistakes of 2006 when England failed. Triesman, meanwhile, had spoken of the "home-from-home welcome" that England would give fans and teams if the tournament was staged in the country.
"Inside and outside our grounds, we'd share with them the love of the game and our sense of fair play," he said. "And they would enjoy our diverse culture - one that means England would provide a home-from-home welcome for every fan and player."
One eyewitness said of the presence of Barnbrook: "They were making all the right sounds during the presentation, phrases like 'making England a home from home', and here was someone sitting there from the BNP. Why would you invite him?"
It is also understood that equality and inclusion campaigners Kick It Out were not invited, which puzzled some guests.
Lord Herman Ouseley, founder and chairman of Kick It Out, said: "We have had a number of complaints since this news came to light, many citing the bizarre nature of having a BNP presence at the launch.
"If the aim of the event was to send out a message of diversity and multi-representation then this seems a strange way of going about it."
Comment 1 - 12 of 12
He is a member of the GLA, ELECTED by the voters and for him not to be allowed to turn up for whatever reason, is undermining the already fragile democracy of this country.
Why does Richard Barnbrook, (the BNP guy) always where the same brown suit? And brownshirt for that matter
Woah, guys, it's a football forum here! Let's just all let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget, etc etc.
Frankly it could be Mr Blobby representing England's bid - as long as we win it I don't care.
Anyone would think the BNP were extreme. It's not the BNP that's any problem in this country. It's the great unthinking proletariat that keep voting for the Lib Dumbs, Labour and Tory that are causing the most problems.
It always makes me laugh when the UAF and Searchlight bang on about the "fascist BNP". My God these ridiculous organisations' lords and masters in the Labour party are the fascists for crying out loud. When will people wake up and realise we're being governed by a load of damned Marxists! Read Das Kapital by Marx and see what's happening around you. And it sweet fanny adams to do with the Nationalist Party - English, Scottish, Welsh or British!
How brainwashed are people like eddie mcilroy & rock and roll is a moron... what you should be doing is actually researching the BNP instead of swallowing the bogus anti democratic lines drip fed to the gullible!
You are unthinking, unquestioning , blind robots scurrying around regurgitating bigoted untruths whilst patting yourselves on the head like an over trusting puppies!
rock and roll....you are the great brainwashed that i was talking about. i for one fully support the bnp, and i, with ever growing numbers are proud to do so. you are the ignorant biggot, not me. if we are scum, then you are the surface on which we rest. you have no right to judge me for my beliefs. i am a free spirit, an individual, and i will form my own opinions, not just agree with what is considered the norm.
comment 3.spot on.keep ALL politics and polititians out of sport.they don't mix!
"home-from-home welcome" "Inside and outside our grounds, we'd share with them the love of the game and our sense of fair play," he said. "And they would enjoy our diverse culture - one that means England would provide a home-from-home welcome for every fan and player."
Where on Earth is he talking about? Doesn't sound like England to me!
@ comment 2. u r absolutely right. the bnp have a right just like any other party. a person's politics are their own affair. most people agree with them in principle, but are just to gutless to have an opinion of their own. as the man said, it's so easy to offend people these days. what a sorry state this country is in. i feel sorry for future generations. being told what to say and think.
eddie's right. Whilst the politician is no doubt a complete &*@#, it's best not to focus on him or any of them. I don't want to hear about him and I don't want to hear about Gordon Brown smiling and shaking hands with people - it stinks of the wrong element. Get rid of them all from the proceedings
in a democracy,one man (or woman)gets one vote.if that person wants to vote conservative,labour,liberal,greens,bnp,monster raving loonies,or anyone else,that is their choice.my question is this,who are these faceless,over sensitive,easily offended 'spokespeople' who think their role on this planet is to protect us from the very people we elect.this man was elected to the gla,and all gla members were invited,so has every right to be there.to exclude mr barnbrook would mean using the very same fascist tatics these spokespeople so abhor.
Please don't mistake this as support for the BNP, far from it, but if he is an 'elected member' of the GLA, why would he not be there? I do not subscribe to their Politics, far from it, which leads me to question why would we question his presence? However wrong, he is elected and therefore representative; albeit a (I hope) minority. To omit him and his so called 'Party' would play into their hands of divisionary politics. The real shame is that column inches will be used up on this, rather than the inclusiveness of all 'party' involvement and the ethos of the World Cup itself.
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