Ex-Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson has been appointed chairman of England’s 2018 World Cup bid team after Lord Triesman resigned on Sunday.
Triesman was caught up in a newspaper sting suggesting Spain could drop its bid if rival bidder Russia helped bribe referees at this summer’s World Cup.
Thompson is vice-president of world football’s governing body Fifa.
And fellow 2018 board member Sebastian Coe insists the bid can overcome the setback of Triesman’s abrupt departure.
Coe, who masterminded the 2005 campaign to bring the Olympic Games to London, has instigated a rescue plan for the 2018 bid.
"It has been traumatic but it does not become a bad bid overnight," said Coe.
"Solid foundations are in place: we have the best venues, the most passionate fans, the best market for sponsors and an unparalleled ability to deliver this tournament in safe and secure surroundings.
"The only thing we don’t have is the private views of the former chairman."
Thompson is well known in the upper reaches of football administration, having previously served as FA chairman for nine years before Triesman.
The 64-year-old is also vice-president of European football’s governing body Uefa and was part of the five-man delegation that presented England’s bid book to Fifa in Zurich on Friday.
Coe, who is a lifelong Chelsea fan, has already briefed Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke and is set to speak to president Sepp Blatter on Monday.
It is also expected that a delegation from the bid team will go to Zurich this week in an attempt to get an audience with Blatter.
Meanwhile, Coe – along with Thompson, 2018 chief executive Andy Anson, 2012 official Sir Keith Mills and other board members and bid executives – will continue talking to Fifa to explain the circumstances behind Triesman’s departure.
Double Olympic gold medallist Coe took leave of absence from his position as chairman of Fifa’s ethics committee in February 2009 after he was appointed as a non-executive member of the bid board.
Mills, the deputy chairman of the London Organising Committee and a Tottenham director, stepped down from the 2018 bid board when it was streamlined late last year.
Before Triesman’s unwanted spell in the headlines, which has also seen him resign as FA chairman, England’s 2018 World Cup candidacy was generally viewed as having a good chance of success.
But the bid team now faces an uphill task to persuade Fifa’s executive to award them the event for the first time since 1966.
However, Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor backed Coe’s assessment that the 2018 bid could still triumph.
"We are still big contenders – the train is still on the track, we’ve just not got the same passengers," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
Triesman’s departure from the 2018 bid and as FA chairman followed what he called his "entrapment" by the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
The revelations came only two days after the FA submitted their 1,752-page bid book to try to persuade Fifa to award England the 2018 event.
A European bid is tipped to get the 2018 tournament with England up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.
The other bidders, although they are mainly focused on the 2022 tournament, are Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.
Triesman will be replaced as FA chairman by board members David Sheepshanks and Roger Burden who will be drafted in as acting joint-chairmen.
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