UEFA Euro '96 Rejected bid venues Before the final decision was made by a 'technical panel', Derby, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester and Portsmouth (who later withdrew) were also among the list of possible venues until the 12 'final cities' were announced on 16 December 2009. Official bid partners Umbro BT Group Morrisons Jaguar Cars Land Rover British Airways PwC NPower Outcome and reaction England's bid for the World Cup was unsuccessful, only receiving 2 out of 22 votes from the FIFA executive committee in the first round of voting. The rights to host the 2018 World Cup were eventually awarded to Russia. At a conference in Qatar in March 2012, Premier League chairman and deputy chairman of the 2018 bid, Dave Richards, said FIFA allowed the FA to waste money on their 2018 World Cup bid when, he claimed, they had little chance of winning it, stating "Why couldn't FIFA have said we want to take it to the Gulf? We spent £19m on that bid. When we went for it everybody believed we had a chance. But, as we went through it, a pattern emerged that suggested maybe we didn't." The Football Association and the Premier League distanced themselves from Richards' remarks, stressing that he was attending the conference in a personal capacity. References External links Official England bid site England bid