City could pay �15m for World Cup

Gary Lineker has supported Leicester's bid

Leicester City council has revealed that its bid to become a host city in the 2018 World Cup could cost £15m.

Leicester is bidding to become one of 12 host cities as England bids to host the football world cup.

City council leader Ross Willmott has called for the authority to support the bid for the tournament, which he said could bring in £90m to the city.

The city could host up to four matches at the Walkers Stadium if the bid is successful.

'Tremendous benefit'

The £15m would be spent on meeting Fifa requirements for being a host city, creating Fan Fest sites and decorating Leicester.

Mr Willmott said the money would only be needed if England won its bid to become a host country.

"I believe we can raise that kind of money, we have done it before for projects.

"Because of the tremendous benefit, the £90m, it is an investment worth trying to secure.

"What we do over the next few years is like a savings fund and [if we] put our under-spends into that every year, by the time we got to 2018 I'm pretty confident that we would have the money that we need," he said.

He said the authority would also work on a strategy to get support from businesses.

Councillors will discuss the bid at a meeting next week.

Former England and Leicester City striker Gary Lineker is supporting the city's bid.

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