The England 2018 bid team has agreed a reduced £2.5 million loan agreement with the government after recent infighting had threatened to harm the bid.

The English campaign was expected to contain a budget of around £15 million. However, the government recently backed down over plans to contribute £5 million of this target. Despite the team only managing to agree half of the fee with the government, they are still confident of having a significant budget to promote England’s bid with.

Nevertheless, England’s financial issues have been especially highlighted compared to their rivals vast funds to play with. Russia recently announced a budget nearly double whilst Qatar’s 2022 bid has $150 million to their disposal.

With the Football Association expected to make up any missing money from the £15 million target, bid chief executive Andy Anson has insisted that the bid is in good shape financially. “We’ve got the money we need to do the best possible bid,” Anson said at the Soccerex conference in Johannesburg.

December represents a busy period for the bid team as they will look to win over voters at the 2010 World Cup draw in South Africa. Then, they have to make a decision on the host cities and stadiums that will be used in the 2018 bid by December 16th.