The UK government has thrown its weight behind a joint-bid between the UK and Ireland to stage the 2030 World Cup.
FIFA are thought to be considering a change to its rules to allow an Asian country to host the tournament in 2030, just eight years after Qatar, with superpower China strongly expected to submit a bid if that proves to be the case.
"I understand why China would be interested," government sports minister Nigel Adams told the Daily Mail. "But I would have thought that if China wants to bid, they would want to have a good chance of winning the tournament - and I see little evidence of that currently."
Of a joint UK and Ireland bid, he added: "We have had two or three meetings with the FA and we are very much committed to doing it. The prime minister is committed to it. I think a UK and Ireland bid is an incredibly attractive proposition.
"We have the stadia, the infrastructure and the ability to put on a fantastic World Cup and it's about time. There are a lot of politics involved with Fifa and trying to work out what other countries' intentions are. But if we were the chosen European bid, I think we would have a very strong case for 2030.
"I'm excited to be able to work on the possibility of landing it - and not only do we want to host a World Cup, we want to win it."
Other contenders for the 2030 include a potential joint-bid between Spain and Portugal, as well as a South American joint bid between Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
Neil Wilkes
