FIFA has postponed the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup.
Its secretary general Jérôme Valcke, under pressure over a $10m payment from South African World Cup organisers to the former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner that US prosecutors say was a bribe, confirmed the move at a press conference in Russia, saying it would be “nonsense” to begin the process in the current climate.
FIFA decided that bidders from any confederation except Asia could bid for the 2026 tournament and that a decision would be made by the 209 member associations in May 2017.
However, Valcke said the process had now been postponed. The United States, Mexico and Canada were expected to be among the bidders.