29 Sep 2010England 'to pull out of 2022 FIFA World Cup bid'

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

The English FA could be on the verge of withdrawing from the running for the 2022 FIFA World Cup as part of an agreement with American football authorities, it has been suggested.

Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein - currently the international president of the 2018 bid - told reporters he expects the FA to end its interest in hosting the 2022 tournament, after reports the US could concentrate on the latter tournament.

"We are sure it won't be long before the United States will withdraw from 2018 leaving themselves a run on 2022," he explained. "We are not really interested in 2022, consequently we will almost certainly withdraw."

Besides the US, England currently face opposition for the right to hold the 2018 event from Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and the Netherlands/Belgium.

Earlier this month, ex-England captain David Beckham travelled to Trinidad and Tobago to press the country's case for staging the FIFA World Cup with Sepp Blatter.

Written by Terry Mitchell

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