England lost to Russia in the bid process in December 2010.
“I can say with total certainty that the atmosphere took a turn for the worse after we beat them to the rights to host the World Cup,” he told the Rossiya-2 television channel.
“The referees didn’t have much sympathy for us. All other things being equal, you’d lose out. … I left maybe not just for this reason, but what happened, happened.”
