The fight to stage the 2026 World Cup has seen claims that the joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico are changing their financial forecasts on the hoof.

In their bid book submitted to FIFA last March, it is alleged they said that they would bring in £1.3billion from ticket sales. But at a presentation in Brussels earlier this month, they had upped their ticket revenue pledges to £1.8bn.

That figure equates to an average ticket price of £321, including corporate hospitality seats, compared to £169 for rivals Morocco — and £158 for the tournament in Brazil four years ago.

USA, Canada and Mexico upped their predicted revenue for the 2026 World Cup by £500m

The joint bid's ticket income is of particular importance because their whole campaign is based around the amount of revenue a World Cup in North America would generate. A bid spokesman was unavailable.

Meanwhile, Morocco will make their presentation to the FA on Thursday week, which is around the time of their FIFA inspection report. There is still concern that a score below the minimum requirements in the mandatory accommodation and stadium categories will rule them out before the Congress vote on June 13.

Ben Ryan, who was on the three-strong shortlist — first revealed by Sports Agenda — from which Paul Gustard was unveiled on Monday as the new head coach of Harlequins, may also end up at the Stoop. The club are splitting the director of rugby role that John Kingston performed and Ryan, who led Fiji to Olympic Sevens gold, is in contention to be the new general manager.

Ben Ryan (left) could still be given a role at Harlequins after missing out on head coach job

It is a pity that the FA Cup final was not stopped for a review by the video assistant referee. For any VAR ruling would have been shown to the crowd via the big screen — a development in the transparency of the system that will be used at the World Cup and help with public acceptance. The Football League would also have communicated to spectators in the same way if VAR had been needed at this year's Carabao Cup final.

Only the FA could re-organise the football pyramid and place Didcot Town in the Southern League West Division and Cinderford in the East — when Didcot lies nearly 100 miles east of Cinderford. It was only when Andover declined promotion that the mess was sorted out, with Cinderford joining Didcot in the Southern League West.

PFA CHAIR NEEDS A CLUB

Hopefully 34-year-old defender Ben Purkiss finds a new club this summer after being released by Swindon, for he needs to remain as a professional footballer to continue as chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association.

Purkiss, who made a brilliant speech at the PFA awards dinner, represents the biggest breath of fresh air in an organisation in which multi-millionaire chief executive Gordon Taylor, 73, surrounds himself with devoted yes men.

Although committed to the PFA, Purkiss is the one strong character within that union and recognises that it is not enough to invest only £100,000 in head-injury research, as they did in the last financial year.

PFA chairman Ben Purkiss represents a big breath of fresh air and needs to find a club

At a time when football is deliberating whether the printed programme is still relevant in this digital age, the FA have continued with their tradition of producing hardback editions for all Royal Box guests at the FA Cup final. Meanwhile, Adrian Bevington, the former FA communications boss, has joined his beloved hometown club Middlesbrough as head of recruitment operations.

The FA still have to explain how they will look after the 3G pitches they intend building for grassroots football with the £600m proceeds from selling Wembley. The proposal comes at a time when councils nationwide are cutting costs by no longer maintaining sports facilities. Even those on the FA in favour of off-loading the stadium are concerned about the maintenance of the pitches, which have a shelf life of seven years if not properly cared for.