England’s World Cup 2030 bid gets £11m boost by Government as Rishi Sunak backs hosting tournament with Budget pledge
CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has confirmed the Government is ploughing £11m into the feasibility study for the planned 2030 World Cup bid.
Sunak’s Budget, announced in the House of Commons, demonstrated the Government’s commitment to the plan.
The FA and other Home Nations, plus the Republic of Ireland, have been in discussions over the proposed five-nation bid for nearly three years.
But with doubts over whether Uefa might be leaning towards endorsing the joint bid by Spain and Portugal, UK Sport chiefs will only signal their support for a bid if it has a realistic prospect of success.
Despite that, the Chancellor said: “We’re backing the beautiful game with £11m of funding to support our bid to host the 2030 men’s football World Cup.
“That’s alongside over £200m to build or transform up to 8,500 state-of-the-art community football pitches.”
FA bosses have bad memories of the failed attempts to land the 2006 and 2018 tournaments.
But new life was breathed into the concept by Fifa President Gianni Infantino when he said last week: “Four members of Fifa in the UK, plus Ireland, would like to host the World Cup.
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“In these five countries, there is not a huge need of work and investment to be done.
“Imagine if they were awarded the right to host the World Cup – that could be a model to follow.”
Wembley chiefs are leading the “feasibility study” into a potential England-led British Isles bid for the tournament.
Speaking about the bids, Sunak said: “I’m excited at the prospect of bringing more world-class sporting events to the UK.
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“That’s why I’m backing these bids.
“Our bids will include events taking place across the country and I’m hopeful everyone will get a chance to cheer on their sporting heroes.”
The Chancellor also committed an additional £30m to back bids to host the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup and the initial stages of the 2026 Tour de France.