Coe , now the chairman of London 2012, is due to speak to FIFA President Sepp Blatter tomorrow to try to begin to repair the damage caused by Triesman's comments, he told insidethegames.

Geoff Thompson, the former chairman of the Football Association and England's representative on the FIFA Executive Committee, will take over as the new chairman of the World Cup bid.

But it is the expertise that Coe and Sir Keith, who was chief executive during London's successful campaign to host the Olympics and Paralympics, will bring to the bid that will help restore optimism that England's chances of beating rivals Russia and the joint bids from Holland and Belgium and Spain and Portugal have not been completely killed by Triesman's unfortunate comments about bribery.

Coe and Sir Keith, who were already members of England's World Cup 2018 Board, have been involved in negotiations since the news broke of Triesman's resignation to try to get the bid back on track.

But he is convinced that the bid can still be saved.

Coe told insidethegames: "This has been a very unhappy episode.

"But nothing changes.

"We have the best bid, the best fans, the best stadiums.

"The only thing that has changed is that we don't have the private views of the previous chairman."

Both Coe and Sir Keith already have excellent football credentials.

Coe is a life long supporter of Chelsea and is a former chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee while Sir Keith is a director of Tottenham Hotspur.

Sir Keith, who made his fortune out of loyalty cards, including British Airways and the Nectar Card, is currently also heading Britain's bid to win the Americas Cup for the first time in history.

Coe said: "I welcome Geoff Thompson as the new chairman of the Board and we look forward to working together with one goal."

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