Plans have been revealed for Britain's 'greatest decade' of sport, with bids under consideration for almost 100 international events between now and 2031 – but there are no active discussions about bringing the Olympics back to London.
Led by proposals to bring the FIFA World Cup to the UK in 2030, funding body UK Sport has released its hosting aspirations document, which features 97 events across 44 sports and spanning 46 world championships.
Those include suggested bids for the 2025 women's Rugby World Cup, the hockey World Cup, the Grand Depart of the Tour de France and also the 2026 European Athletics Championships, as previously revealed by Sportsmail.
There are further discussions around bidding for the 2027 or 2029 athletics world championships on the back of the success of London 2017, with a 2029 bid understood to be more likely.
The list is divided into 'mega events' and 'major events', with 22 of the 97 events already secured, with the 2024 Champions League final and next year's Commonwealth Games both confirmed.
The 2021 Super Cup in Belfast has also been secured as one of the mega events while major event World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be going ahead in Liverpool next year.
While some events have been given the green light, others like an English bid for the 2025 women's rugby World Cup and the 2031 Ryder Cup are at the feasibility study stage.
While UK Sport could not put a figure on how many of those events it would actually secure, it said the UK's bid success ratio stood at around 80 per cent over the last four years, which would equate to 78 of those 97 events being secured if bids ultimately went in for all of them.
The biggest prize of all would arguably be the men's centenary football World Cup in 2030, which is considered second only to the Olympic Games as the world's most prestigious and watched sports event.
FIFA is set to outline the bidding process by the second quarter of next year, with a decision due to be taken on the hosts at its 2024 Congress.
The UK and Ireland are exploring the feasibility of a joint bid for those finals, but could find themselves up against Spain and Portugal to be UEFA's preferred bidder. There is then expected to be a South American bid, which at the very least would command sentimental support given Uruguay hosted the inaugural finals in 1930.
UK Sport chief operating officer Simon Morton said football politics were part of the discussions around feasibility, but believes there are many differences with this bid compared to the failed England-only attempt for the 2018 finals.
'FIFA have made some significant and important changes to the bid process, it has become significantly more transparent,' he said.
'Some said that the (2018) bid was perhaps a bit too insular - well we're talking about a five-nation bid, so the tone is completely different.
'This is pioneering, this is unprecedented in terms of what we're talking about. So I think those things give us confidence that after 11 years since the last bid, things have the potential to be different this time around.'
FIFA president Gianni Infantino says the bidding process for 2030 will be 'bullet-proof'. As with the 2026 finals, which were awarded to Canada, Mexico and the United States, it will be the full FIFA Congress which votes.
Morton believes UK Sport's investment across a range of sports into international relations means the UK will be well placed to understand and adapt to the different 'rules of the game' that apply to hosting a football or rugby World Cup compared to an event under International Olympic Committee control for example.
The 2031 Ryder Cup is the next one which could come to the UK, with the feasibility study considering courses in England. The next ones on European soil are in Rome in 2023 and County Limerick in 2027.
Morton added: 'These events aren't just part of our strategy, they're also aligned to the Government's strategy and we have been really encouraged by the Government's manifesto commitment to build on the UK's fantastic track record of hosting the biggest international sporting events.
'These events will play an important part not just in our economic recovery from the pandemic, but in our social recovery.'
Morton said an event partners day had just concluded which involved '51 sports meeting 45 cities and venues across the UK discussing where the events on this list might be held'.
Among the list of 97 events, many from the 'mega' and 'major' categories have been listed as 'opportunities', which include several more obscure sports.
The Goalball World and Youth Championships are being mooted as a potential events while the Bouldering World Cup in the sport of climbing could be making its way to Britain.
Goalball is a team sport designed for those with vision impairment, which has teams of three trying to throw a ball with bells embedded in it into the opponent's goal. Able-bodied athletes can also take part but must be blindfolded.
UK Sport estimate they would boost the UK economy by £6.83billion with the events and can attract more than 13 million fans.
UK Sport chair Dame Katherine Grainger said: 'We are clear that by the greatest decade, we mean one that is still characterised by world-leading medal success.
'But we have to do much more with that success not just around the Games. High-performance sport has a unique capability, and therefore a unique responsibility for inspiring and uniting the nation.'
While 97 events have been outlined in their aspirations document, UK Sport state that it is 'likely' that some of the events that have been listed 'will not progress to the bid stage'.
Despite claims from London mayor Sadiq Khan ahead of Thursday's election that he wanted to bring the Olympics back to the capital in 2036 or 2040, UK Sport's powerbrokers confirmed it had not even been discussed at this point.
