William Hill are offering odds of 7/1 that the 2010 World Cup will take place in England after Sepp Blatter warned that he had contingency plans in place should South Africa not be able to host the event.

However, Hills offer 1/10 that the tournament WILL take place in South Africa - and 11/2 that it will not. 'Punters have suspected that S Africa may not be ready in time almost since the day they were awarded the games and we have consistently fielded bets - albeit modest ones -  for them not to do so over the past couple of years when they were up to 20/1 not to'said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

Meanwhile, Hills have opened a book on who will host the 2018 World Cup - the tournament that England is aiming to stage. Hills make England 7/4 favourites and also offer: 7/2 Russia; 9/2 Spain + Portugal (jointly); 6/1 Australia; 8/1 China; 10/1Benelux; 16/1 Qatar; 25/1 Mexico; 25/1 USA; 40/1 Canada; 40/1 Iran.