Portsmouth will no longer try to be a host city for the 2018 FIFA World Cup

PORTSMOUTH will not be bidding to be a host city for the 2018 World Cup - but it may still be too late for Southampton to join the race.

After hours of debate, Portsmouth councillors took the decision to not bid for host status as the council would have to stump up £24m.

Only 13 councillors voted in favour, 24 against with one abstaining.

Saints' chairman Nicola Cortese has expressed his desire for Southampton to be a host city should England host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.

The city would be well placed to meet all the requirements, with St Mary's Stadium designed to be expanded to a maximum capacity of 55,000.

However, Marcus Liebherr's takeover of the club was not completed long before the deadline for applications to the FA from interested cities.

This did not give the club or Southampton City Council time to launch a bid and it may now be too late - despite the strength of any bid compared to other cities in the South of England.

During last night's debate at Portsmouth Guildhall, the council leader, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said: “If we say no then we are saying to people that we don’t care about jobs and the people in this city. It makes me feel sick.

Councillors feared the consequences of the FIFA contract, which says once a local authority has committed by bidding, there is no escape if there are financial troubles.

Tory Cllr Donna Jones, opposing the bid, had strong words. “I felt very bad today that the FA has allowed FIFA to bend us over and spank us hard,” she said.

The authority would need to spend £6m on temporary seating for Fratton Park to meet the required 45,000 capacity - assuming the ground was expanded by Portsmouth Football Club to around 30,000 in the first place.

The authority would also need to find a further £3m to stage fan festivals across the city and £2m for promotion and 'city dressing'.

Cllr Mike Hancock opposed the bid as he thought it was a waste of taxpayers’ money and said that it could be spent more effectively in impoverished parts of Portsmouth. “There is nothing right about being cavalier with other peoples’ money,” he said.

The decision came on the same day as Portsmouth Football Club sacked manager Paul Hart, with the team rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with just seven points.

Additional reporting by Dan Kerins