UEFA president backs England bid for 2030 World Cup

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has given his backing to the 2030 World Cup being held in England - or a combined British bid.

UEFA's President Alexander Ceferin
UEFA's President Alexander Ceferin

The Slovenian said earlier in the week that it will be "Europe's turn" to host the tournament, following 2022 in Qatar and a 2026 event tipped to take place in North America.

Ceferin has now gone further by backing a return to Britain for the first time since England hosted and won the 1966 World Cup.

He told the BBC: "For me, they are absolutely capable of organising it from an organisational point of view, from an infrastructure point of view.

"But of course it's a decision not just for the FA, probably the government and all the others too.

"But you know everything about English or British football, so they deserve to have a World Cup in the near future.

"I don't know how much encouragement they need, but they are capable of organising the World Cup, I'm sure. That's the decision of the Football Association and if they decide to go, we will strongly support them.

"They will have all our political support. I just hope we will not have two European bidders, because that would not be good. 

"I think the ideal situation would be to have one European bidder, and then all of Europe stands together and we can achieve it."