Portugal have announced that they will only be providing three stadiums if their 2018 World Cup joint bid with Spain is successful.

The presidents of the Spanish and Portuguese football associations recently met Sepp Blatter in order to convince him of the merits of this joint campaign.

However, Blatter is reported to harbor grave doubts over the viability of joint bids what with potential dual cost centres and organising committees following the Japan/South Korea effort in 2002.

The low key bid has been flooded with rumours that Spain will eventually end up running on their own. The revelation that Portugal will only provide three arenas for matches is unlikely to persuade voters that this joint bid is better than the other available options.

Gilberto Madaíl, Portuguese football president, stated that further investment to increase the number of stadia “does not justify the number of games ahead of Portugal would receive.”

His comments echoed those of Laurentino Dias, Portuguese Secretary of State for Sport, who joined the delegation. He vowed his country would run to a tight budget.