IT'S a bigger outrage than when Diego Maradona punched the ball past Peter Shilton in 1986. It's a bigger disgrace than when Zinedine Zidane butted Marco Materazzi three years ago.

The World Cup and controversy go hand in hand but seldom has it produced a bigger injustice than that perpetrated by the Football Association yesterday.

Its decision to reject Derby's case to be a host venue if England is awarded the competition in 2018 – and include Nottingham instead – not only dashed the hopes of thousands in our city but also defied logic.

The FA said throughout the bidding process that it wanted "low risk" options. It stressed it wanted a scheme that could demonstrate the support of its community. It wanted professionalism and to create the right image.

It could have had all of those with Team Derby but instead, when it made its announcement on the successful cities yesterday, it went for a Nottingham bid that has embarrassed itself from day one.

Many thought the FA would reject their submission after a first inspection visit which ended with Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council falling out over plans for a new stadium. The county subsequently withdrew from the bid team.

And it's still far from certain whether the stadium will even get planning permission with Rushcliffe borough councillors, who will decide the proposal, expressing grave concerns about it.

Of course, the FA yesterday was refusing to talk about why Nottingham had been selected ahead of Derby, save to say the bid process was not just about stadia.

The Telegraph was a proud partner in Derby's bid team. We still believe our submission ticked every box. We know it met the technical and legal specifications. We can't believe it didn't fit the bill on football heritage, hosting or legacy.

We are grateful to Derby County, Derby City Council, Marketing Derby, Derbyshire County Council, the University of Derby and the many other groups and organisations who worked so hard on meeting the FA's constantly changing requirements.

And we thank the thousands of Telegraph readers who pledged their support to the city's campaign.

All we can say to them – in footballing parlance, of course – is: We wuz robbed!

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