England’s 2018 bid team will hold a crisis meeting during the week in an attempt to get the campaign back on track after several recent disruptions.

In the weeks gone by, various criticisms have been raised at the way England have gone about developing and expanding their bid , most notably from FIFA vice president Jack Warner.

The meeting will focus on ways to win back the support of the 24 FIFA executive members after the Russian and Spain/Portugal campaigns have recently gained momentum.

Richard Caborn

The Prime Minister’s 2018 bid ambassador Richard Caborn has called for unity stating the government will take a reduced role if necessary.

He said: “Our message is the domestic squabbling must stop, and we must get on with winning the votes. We should be focusing on the real issue of winning the votes rather than the domestic issues that have dominated this campaign and if the 2018 board believes we need to reduce government involvement then we will do that. We do believe that the bid requires some re-organisation and a new direction.”

Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa’s successful bid, said: “When you have so many bidding countries it is important you focus on the first voting round and make absolutely sure you are there after the first round. I think that England is focussing on developing a strategy to get over round one because then things change as there become fewer in the bidding process.”