England’s World Cup 2030 bid handed boost as Government commit another £11m to get tournament despite Wembley chaos
THE Government is committing a further £11million to the planned 2030 World Cup bid - despite senior football figures advising the FA it could be a lost cause.
Wembley chiefs are leading the “feasibility study” into a potential England-led British Isles bid for the tournament.
Growing fears that Uefa is ready to endorse the Spain-Portugal bid as Europe’s standard-bearer had brought significant internal doubts over whether the five-nation bid - which would include the Republic of Ireland - has a realistic chance of success.
Any bid will only go ahead if it is deemed a genuine contender with bad memories of the failed attempts to land the 2006 and 2018 tournaments still reverberating.
But new life was breathed into the concept by Fifa President Gianni Infantino when he said last week: “Four members of Fifa in the UK, plus Ireland, would like to host the World Cup.
“In these five countries, there is not a huge need of work and investment to be done.
“Imagine if they were awarded the right to host the World Cup - that could be a model to follow.”
And now extra cash for the bid has been announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in today’s Budget as part of a £41m overall sports funding boost.
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The Chancellor will set aside the £11m for the World Cup bid and also commit an additional £30m to back bids to host the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup and the initial stages of the 2026 Tour de France.
Speaking about the bids, Sunak said: "I'm excited at the prospect of bringing more world-class sporting events to the UK.
"That's why I'm backing these bids.
"Our bids will include events taking place across the country and I'm hopeful everyone will get a chance to cheer on their sporting heroes."
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