Leicester team present bid to host World Cup

The team trying to bring the World Cup to Leicester will present their case at Wembley Stadium today.

Leicester is one of 15 cities vying to be part of England's dream of hosting the World Cup finals.

Councillors, businesses and football representatives were travelling to Wembley this morning after the city council last night agreed unanimously to bid to stage matches in 2018.

Council leader Ross Willmott said: "I have been convinced, overwhelmingly, that this is the right thing for the city to do.

"We believe our bid enhances England's chances of bidding for the games and we should be rightly proud of it."

Around 10 cities will be chosen from bidders including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Derby, Hull, Newcastle-Gateshead, Nottingham, Plymouth, Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Sunderland and Bristol.

Yesterday, Portsmouth dropped out of the race after its council refused to provide the necessary financial guarantees.

The chosen venues are expected to be announced on December 16.

Between 12 and 18 stadiums will be selected for inclusion in England's bid.

Four of the cities will submit proposals that contain more than one stadium.

If Leicester is successful it could host up to four international matches at the Walkers Stadium.

The council would have to spend around £15.3m promoting the city and improving infrastructure.

It is estimated that the tournament would help create about 1,400 jobs in Leicester and up to £100m in revenue for businesses.

England's overall bid has been beset with controversy.

It suffered another blow on Tuesday, when Sir Dave Richards, chairman of the FA Premier League, resigned from being a board member on the bid team.

Yesterday, former Birmingham City managing director Karren Brady said infighting in the England bid team was harming the country's chances of hosting the World Cup. "There's been bickering, infighting and disruption," she told BBC Radio 5 live.

Asked if the bid had been a shambles, she said: "From the outside looking in, that's probably fair comment."

Ms Brady, who leads an advisory board to England's 2018 World Cup bid committee, admitted she was concerned the campaign could lose its way.

She said: "If everybody doesn't pull together for the same aim, things won't be achieved.

"We've got an excellent chance and an excellent technical bid.

"We've got some wonderful stadia in this country to host the most amazing World Cup.

"But internal politics can't be seen to be getting in the way of that."

England's final bid is expected to be delivered to Fifa in May 2010.