Scandal brings an end to Triesman's term

On a dark day for the hierachy of English football, Triesman said he had no choice but to resign from his two-year reign as FA chairman and head of the country's bid to host the 2018 World Cup after what he described as entrapment. “I have decided to resign as chairman of The FA and the 2018 Bid board,” the 66-year-old said in a FA statement.

“A private conversation with someone whom I thought to be a friend was taped without my knowledge and passed to a national newspaper. That same friend has also chosen to greatly exaggerate the extent of our friendship. In that conversation I commentated on speculation circulating about conspiracies around the world. Those comments were never intended to be taken seriously as indeed is the case with many private conversations. Entrapment especially by a friend is an unpleasant experience both for my family and me but it leaves me with no alternative but to resign.”

Extracts of a secretly taped conversation between Triesman and a former female aide from his time as a government minister were published by the Mail on Sunday, including the shocking allegations about rival 2018 bidders Spain and Russia.

On a day of frantic damage limitation measures, England's 2018 World Cup bid team issued apologies to their Spanish and Russian counterparts as well as governing body FIFA, adding that Triesman's comments in no way represented their own views.

The FA confirmed that Board members David Sheepshanks and Roger Burden had been appointed as joint acting chairmen.