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

Richards told bid chairman Lord Triesman of his decision to step down in a letter and continues a period of upheaval which led to six members of the board leaving their posts on November 12.

Manchester United chief executive David Gill and former Birmingham City director Karren Brady were two high-profile casualties of the 'streamlining' process alongside sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe.

"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," Richards said in a statement.

"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 and whenever I can.

"My belief is that England has all the right attributes to host a successful FIFA World Cup – our challenge now is to convince the 24 members of FIFA's ExCo (executive committee) of that. This must be our focus and priority going forward."

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