Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin says that a British bid for the 2030 World Cup would be “strongly supported” and the tournament should not be sold to the country “who wants to pay the most”.
This week, Vivo became the third Chinese company to sponsor Fifa, with a suggestion China could bid for 2030.
But, with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, that would go against the governing body’s continental rotation policy.
Ceferin says rules “cannot change just because we have some big sponsors”.
Speaking to reporters in Cardiff before the Champions League final, he added: “It’s simply time for us [Europe] to host the World Cup in 2030.
“I cannot say which country will place a bid from Europe, but we cannot just sell the World Cup to the ones who want to pay the most.”
Asked about China’s commercial grip on Fifa, Ceferin added “I didn’t want to speak just about China, but the most important thing is that the World Cup should go to the country that has the best bid.”
Russia will host the next World Cup in 2018, making a European bid for the 2030 tournament viable.
Ceferin says an English or pan-British bid would be welcomed.
“It just has to be a decision not just of the FA, probably also the government and others too. But they deserve to have a World Cup in the near future,” the head of European football’s governing body said.
“They are capable of organising the World Cup, of that I’m sure. If they decide to go, we will strongly support them.”
Cerefin was speaking the day before Cardiff hosts the Champions League final and said Wales hosting the final was “very important for the development of football”.
“For Cardiff, it’s a fantastic experience,” he added. “For us it’s a bit of a challenge in terms of infrastructure and hotels but I’m sure Wales will never forget the event.
“It’s very important for the development of football. [Wales] made some fantastic results last year [at Euro 2016], they have one of the best players in the world – for a small country it is a fantastic result.”
