Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards has thrown England's 2018 World Cup campaign into disarray by resigning from the board.

Richards today sent a letter to Lord Triesman, chairman of the bid and the Football Association, saying that he would continue to support the campaign but no longer wanted to be on the board.

The resignation comes as a devastating blow to bid leaders, and especially to Triesman, who had hoped to draw a line under recent turmoil by streamlining the board at an emergency meeting 10 days ago.

In a statement, Richards explained his reasons
for going.

“With the recent changes to the England 2018 bid team structure, I feel I can now best support a successful bid without the necessity of sitting on the board,” he said.

“My positions as Premier League chairman, FA board member and chairman of the FA's international committee provide me with ample opportunities to bang the drum for English football and the bid particularly, right across the world, which I will continue to do wherever I can.

“My belief is that England has all the right attributes to host a successful World Cup — our challenge now is to convince the 24 members of FIFA's executive committee of that. This must be our focus and priority.”

But Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, who himself agreed to step down from the board the week before last to give it more of a football focus, expressed his disappointment over Richards's decision.

He said: “I'm sad about that and disappointed. We had hoped to create a more football-focused board so I hope someone else to represent the Premier League will now take his place.”

The shock move highlights the underlying tensions that exist between the Premier League and the FA. Richards was initially ignored when Triesman put the bid board together and then, on the insistence of chief executive Andy Anson, was persuaded to join so the campaign could harness the international clout of the Premier League.

In recent weeks, though, the bid has been through turmoil. Outspoken criticism of the campaign by FIFA vice-president Jack Warner was followed by the revelations that the bid team were giving designer handbags to the wives of FIFA members. Warner returned the gift, angry that his wife was exposed to embarrassment, and sent a letter to Triesman.

Some board members and the Government became increasingly concerned at the direction of the bid and this led to a crisis meeting on
12 November where a seven-member streamlined board was announced.