Lord Triesman has today stepped down as England 2018 bid leader and FA chief executive after remarks claiming that Spain would withdraw their bid if Russian officials helped bribe referees at the 2010 World Cup in their favour.

His exit comes after the embarassing claims were exposed in the Mail on Sunday who had obtained a secret video which included Triesman talking to a future aide.

The England bid team have attempted to save the under fire campaign by mailing apologies to both the Spain and Russia delegates.

Hugh Robertson, Sports Minister, said: “It is absolutely the right decision to take. It would have been difficult for the FA to have sacked John Terry and for Triesman to have stayed on. I’m very impressed with the way it has been handled. The danger was this could have drifted on. I’m pleased they have acted decisively and they have done the right thing. Nobody could pretend that this hasn’t been a good day. But the trick now is to refocus everyone’s attempts on the bid. It can be done and if you concentrate on the bid’s core strengths we can get over this.”

The allegations follow numerous setbacks to the bid over the past year. In October, FIFA vice president Jack Warner criticised England’s bid before South Africa 2010 official Danny Jordaan did the same. November saw Karen Brady criticise the campaign run by the bid team and stated that internal politics were disrupting their chances. Smaller setbacks and resignations have become a thing of regularity but it remains to be seen how disruptive this latest claim will be.