England’s participation in the football World Cup in Moscow could be in doubt if Russia is linked to the suspected poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal, the Foreign Secretary has suggested.

Boris Johnson has warned Russia that it will face a “robust” response from the UK if it is implicated in the incident, in which the former spy's daughter was also targeted, with the England football team’s presence at this summer’s tournament now in jeopardy.

Answering an urgent question in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson told MPs that, should their suspicions be confirmed, Russia would face tougher sanctions as he labelled the Kremlin a “malign and disruptive force”.

Asked whether the incident, which has sparked a major investigation involving counter-terror police, would lead to a breakdown in relations, Mr Johnson said: “We will have to have a serious conversation about our engagement with Russia.

“For my own part, I think it will be very difficult to see how we...thinking ahead to the World Cup in July, I think it will be very difficult to imagine that UK representation at that event could go ahead in the normal way, and will have to think on that.”