Government commit £11million to a 2030 World Cup bid  

The Football Association came under increased pressure on Wednesday to launch a bid to host World Cup 2030 after the Government committed £11million to the project.

Sports minister Nigel Huddleston will meet UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Thursday to discuss proposals for the UK and Ireland to launch a bid for the tournament in nine years time when he attends the women’s Euro 2022 draw in Manchester.

As highlighted by Sportsmail last week, there are significant reservations from this at the heart of the bid project over whether the home nations should press ahead with a formal effort to stage the competition.

But chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed on Wednesday that the Government, having originally pledged £2.8m for a feasibility study towards a World Cup 2030 bid, is ploughing an extra £8m into the checks over whether a joint bid would be a success.

The feasibility study isn’t expected to be completed until April 2022 at the earliest, by which time the home nation FAs will have a clearer idea over whether launching a successful bid to host the World Cup is realistic.

But despite major internal doubts, the Government appear set on pressing ahead with an effort to stage the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

In addition to the £11m investment into the Government are also pledging up to £500m towards grass roots football for a successful World Cup bid – another clear indication of their intention to build a credible bid.