Qatar throw their weight behind Iberian bid for 2018 World Cup

Mohamed Bin Hammam insists however that there is no "illegal" pact between the Iberian bid and Qatar's bid for 2022.

The bids were last week cleared by FIFA's ethics committee of collusion on the grounds of lack of evidence.

Spain/Portugal are competing against Russia and Holland/Belgium as well as England for the right to host the 2018 tournament.

He said: "Asia supports the Iberian bid. There's an excellent relationship between Asian football and Spanish football, we have done a lot of projects together, but that doesn't mean there has been a pact between us.

"It is something that happens between a lot of bids and it's not at all illegal.

"Qatar is going to support Spain and Portugal and they will support us, but we're not breaking any rules."

Spain/Portugal chief executive Miguel Angel Lopez claims they already have as many as eight of the 22 FIFA votes in the bag.

Meanwhile, Spain/Portugal's bid has suffered a blow after doubts were raised about their ability to fund stadium improvements. Angel Laborda, the chief economist at Spanish savings bank foundation Funcas, said cities proposing to update 2018 World Cup stadiums would face trouble securing loans.

"If building these stadiums means taking on more debt, I fear that they won't happen," Laborda told Bloomberg. "The government won't let them."

Five former England internationals will join Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham as part of the England 2018 delegation in Zurich next week.

Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and John Barnes were yesterday named as part of the 30-strong delegation along with England manager Fabio Capello.

England chief executive Andy Anson said: "We have said throughout the process that this bid has the backing of the whole country and the nature of this line-up confirms that point. Next week is clearly critical because it is our last chance to convince the FIFA executive committee members who are voting that England should be their choice for 2018.

"We will be campaigning and working right up to the very last minute and the strength and support we have within this travelling party gives us the best possible chance to deliver our message, strongly and passionately for one final time."