Shortly beforehand, Cameron said politicians from across the political spectrum had been too close to Rupert Murdoch over the years.

CNN: UK minister rejects claims of improper Murdoch links

Six months before the match Sandro Rosell, who is now the president of Barcelona Football Club, the European champions, became a director of Ailanto, a sports-marketing firm in Rio de Janeiro set up shortly beforehand.

ECONOMIST: Football in Brazil

Shortly beforehand, the Europeans will have been talking up their supporting role in all this diplomacy, when the European Union's 15 met ten Asian counterparts for an Asia-Europe Meeting in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

ECONOMIST: A role for Europe in Korea