Bobby Charlton believes England have the fans and the facilities to host the World Cup in 2018.
United legend says England have the fans and facilities to host WC
Bobby Charlton believes England have the fans and the facilities to host a successful World Cup in 2018.
The Manchester United and England legend was on the committee which failed to land the prestigious tournament in 2006 but the 72-year-old is confident England can be successful this time around.
England had looked favourites to secure the World Cup but a number of failed attempts to try and impress Fifa vice-president Jack Warner seem to have worked against them.
England's 2018 bid ambassador Richard Caborn has recently called an emergency meeting with his team to get the bid back on track after the recent criticism from Warner but Charlton remains optimistic.
"I am sure everyone sitting on their various committees will work really hard," he told
Sky Sports News.
Popular choice
"We have the fans, we have the facilities, we have everything that is needed for a great World Cup and the mere fact that our football, the Premier League, is so popular around the world I think it would be a popular choice.
"But you have to work at it, it's not easy, there are lots of countries who would like to host the World Cup but it would be really well received if it came to England.
"You have to play the political game but we play everything by the book."
Meanwhile it has also been revealed that the 10 cities chosen to host World Cup matches in 2018 will have to stump up £250,000 each to cover the deficit left by the government's shortfall in funds.
The government were due to contribute £5million towards the bid but have now stated that they will only be offering £2.5million.
Bid chief executive Andy Anson stated: "England 2018's requirements for those candidate host cities chosen next month include a £250,000 marketing contribution which will be used for the global promotion of the England 2018 bid and it's candidate host cities."
