Beeb can’t go to Gary

BBC News and Sport automatically went inhouse to arch-critic Gary Lineker for a comment after any FIFA corruption story broke. But Beeb insiders say that will have to change after he took the FIFA shilling as their World Cup draw host.

l MOST media accreditation centres for major sports events are housed in makeshift tents or portable cabins. Not so the 2018 World Cup draw, where marble halls welcome entrants to the 1812 Museum commemorating the battle of Borodino. The Russians are making the most of their Kremlin location for the draw. The security entry route to the draw hall starts next to the spectacular nine-domed St Basil’s Cathedral and passes all the grandest Kremlin buildings. Even the official media reception was staged in the spectacular Pillar Hall, where the Russian nobility used to party.