Conforming to the unwritten rule that former FA executives must become bold reformers only after leaving Wembley, David Bernstein has joined calls for European nations to boycott Fifa and the 2018 World Cup if football's governing body is not fundamentally reformed.
"It sounds drastic but frankly this has gone on for years now, it's not improving, it's going from bad to worse to worse," said Bernstein, who added that Sepp Blatter standing down as president should be a precondition of any reform. "There are 54 countries within Uefa. There's Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Holland – all powerful. You can't hold a serious World Cup without them. They have the power to influence if they have the will."
