FA chairman Lord Triesman wants a transparent tender process

The World Cup consultants the Football Association brought in to work on England's 2018 bid have been told they will have to retender for the role.

European Consultancy Network (ECN) is run by former Fifa insiders Peter Hargitay and Markus Siegler.

They are reported to be furious, believing they had been signed up for the entire bid, but the FA says they only had a six-month contract.

Rival 2018 bidders are believed to have approached ECN to work for them.

FA chairman Lord Triesman decided that, with the preparation phase of the bid having finished, the tender process should be reopened.

Triesman wants the entire bid to be as open and transparent as possible and that means the FA will put all consulting processes out to tender.

ECN's Siegler told BBC Sport: "We are not commenting, I'm afraid. We'd ask you to refer to the FA."

When approached by the BBC, an FA spokesman declined to comment on the matter.

Hargitay is a former advisor to Fifa president Sepp Blatter, while Siegler is Fifa's former director of communications.

Fifa, world football's governing body, will vote on who will host the 2018 tournament in 2011.

A formal bid document has to be submitted in autumn 2010, while Fifa's inspectors will visit prospective hosts in early 2011.