FA lining up 2030 bid

FA CHAIRMAN Greg Clarke is doing his best to prepare England for a bid to host the 2030 World Cup by travelling the world to win support.

His latest trip was to Oman for a FIFA strategic summit attended by representatives from 20 other countries. Similar meetings held at Heathrow last year are part of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s strategy to do more business away from the public eye of FIFA council meetings.

AGENT Neil Fairbrother has paid a six-figure sum to take the cricketers he manages, including Joe Root, out of Chubby Chandler’s International Sports Management and set up the Phoenix Management Group. Along with Root, Sports Agenda understands Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Michael Vaughan and David Lloyd are leaving ISM for Fairbrother, who will be employing former Notts batsman Michael Lumb in the set-up. Chandler has taken a stake in Phoenix as part of the exit negotiations and Vaughan might do so in the future.