No disgrace in England defeat

England's defeat in the gilded halls of Zurich will be a source of immense disappointment for the football fans in this nation but that sorrow should not spiral into recrimination.

The 2018 World Cup bid began slowly but developed into a compelling and competitive proposal. The sight of Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham joining together for the final few days of lobbying was a sign not of the proposal's weakness, but of its strength. Although our efforts fell short this time, they mark a remarkable turnaround from the dark days fooball experienced in the 1980s.

Russia's victory can be considered a surprise given that England's main rival was seen as the joint bid from Spain and Portugal. Concerns linger over the health of democracy in Moscow but now is not the time to point the finger. The former Soviet nation has eight years to clean up its politics, build the stadia required and improve the standards of living for the millions of people who are mired in poverty.

It will probably never be known if the members of Fifa's executive committee had made up their minds before a handful of them faced a series of corruption allegations on television. Serious questions have been raised, however, and they deserve to be investigated.

In England, the planning that went into the bid should not be thrown away. The 2012 Olympics will be an opportunity to showcase the nation on the global stage and to prove we have the capacity to stage major sporting events in the 21st century. This, along with the work that went into the 2018 bid, could still be the stepping stone for another tilt at hosting the World Cup.

In the meantime, however, fans will carry on waiting, and hoping, that in future they will see the best of the world's players on their turf. They should not lose heart, however, because the wait only brings us closer to the day that football finally comes home.