England 'will not bid for 2022 World Cup' if Qatar is stripped of hosting rights - Greg Dyke

England had been among favourites to land the tournament

Simon Rice
Wednesday 03 June 2015 10:40 BST
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The World Cup trophy
The World Cup trophy (Getty)

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England will not step in to host the World Cup if current hosts Qatar are stripped of the tournament, says FA chairman Greg Dyke.

England had been the favourites among bookmakers to stage the tournament if controversial hosts Qatar were denied it amid allegations of corruption at Fifa and yesterday's resignation of its president, Sepp Blatter.

Speaking to the Today programme, Dyke explained the reason England would not be bidding for the 2022 tournament.

"I think it would be pretty certain it wouldn't come to Europe - you wouldn't have two successive World Cups in Europe.

"So I would say it would be most likely to go to America, who were the runners up."

Russia are due to host the 2018 World Cup and are facing less pressure than Qatar due to the short time-frame in which to make alternative plans.

Following the shock resignation of Blatter last night, Dyke was among the first to turn his attention to the next two hosts of football's greatest tournament.

It's alleged that both bids were won on the back of bribes and corruption, leading to growing calls that the bidding process is re-run.

Dyke said yesterday: "We can go back to looking at those two World Cups. If I were Qatar right now I wouldn’t be feeling very comfortable."

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