World Cup ‘fix’ claims denied

The chief of the joint Spain/Portugal bid to host the 2018 World Cup has denied claims of a pact with Qatar, who are bidding for the 2022 finals, to manipulate the voting process.

FIFA are investigating allegations of collusion and vote-swapping for the two tournaments, which is banned and can lead to disqualification.

In a statement issued today, Miguel Angel Lopez, chief executive of the Iberian bid, said: "We already told FIFA last Wednesday that we do not have any agreement with any other bidding nation."

He added that his bid team are co‑operating fully with the probe.

The bid is one of England's rivals for 2018 along with Russia and a joint Belgium/Holland proposal. FIFA will announce the hosts on 2 December.