The club sold the Elland Road stadium and Thorp Arch in 2004

Joint leader of Leeds City Council Andrew Carter has revealed that the Football League has to approve its purchase of Thorp Arch.

The council has done a deal to borrow money to buy the club's training ground before leasing it back to Leeds United.

Carter told BBC Radio Leeds: "We said under no circumstances would we loan the club the money to buy it.

"What we did say was we would consider purchasing it and leasing it back to Leeds under certain conditions."

The purchase price of Thorp Arch is believed to be around £6m. The deal comes at a time when the Football League is seeking clarification about the ownership of Leeds United.

Speaking on the station's Leeds United's Unplugged programme, Carter said: "Before this deal could go through, the Football League would have to agree to it. And that's a big protection as far as we are concerned. If they are not, it would be a deal-breaker quite frankly.

"It's because the financial arrangements we would come to to protect the council's position would involve the Football League having to say we are happy with the transaction going ahead in this way.

"We are not using council tax payers' money. All the time, we make sure that what we do is in the best interest of the council tax payers.

"It's another big plus as far as our bid to host the World Cup is concerned because we have a world class training facility that really is the envy of a lot of other places."

Leeds City Council is backing Leeds United's Elland Road stadium and the city of Leeds to be one of the host cities for the World Cup in 2018.

The decision on which hosts cities will be entered for England's World Cup bid will be made in December.

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