No sooner had David Beckham delivered England's 1,700-page bid document for the 2018 World Cup than the whole thing has been thrown into doubt by a kiss-and-tell story in the Mail on Sunday that resulted in the FA's chairman Lord Triesman resigning his post.
However, the reaction has been one of almost universal criticism of the Mail's timing and intentions regarding the kiss-and-tell, which even when talked up in tabloid terms is hardly a classic of the genre.
Below is a selection of reader comments from the Mail's own website:
"I for one have had enough of the media's negative and damaging effect on our national game...The only way we can stop these morons from doing further damage is by refusing to fall into their trap and to cease buying their worthless little rag."
"I see the heading of this article has been changed to attempt to shift all the blame onto this woman. The Mail on Sunday showing just how spineless it is. Contemptible."
"Thanks very much the Mail on Sunday...You have destroyed the chance of our country hosting the world cup. SHAME ON YOU!!!"
"I hope there is a huge backlash...for this disgraceful attempt to cash in on a kiss and tell story but at the expense of the England 2018 bid."
"She was paid £75,000 for this - that's minuscule compared to the amount of jobs and money the 2018 World Cup would have provided to the under privileged in our country, let alone the pride of hosting the tournament."
"I would simply appeal to everyone that cares about our country to BOYCOTT THIS NEWSPAPER NOW! ...The world cup would bring in billions to boost our economy, all potentially ruined by a money-grabber and a disgraceful gutter press tabloid with the stupidity to pay for and print her 'story'."
"I cannot believe such ridiculous comments, made in private, were turned into headline news by your small minded editors."
"This is a disgraceful story ...you only survive on bad news, so you try to create bad news when none is around. If I worked at your newspaper I would feel ashamed."
Did somebody say own goal? Or maybe the Mail On Sunday simply didn't like the sound of all those horrible foreign chappies turning up in 2018.
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