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England's 2018 World Cup bid has been "significantly harmed" by a newspaper investigation into the bidding process, according to a key member of the campaign team.

Chuck Blazer, the American member of Fifa's executive committee that will decide on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, had previously claimed there would be no backlash against England.

But it now seems the Sunday Times probe into two members of the committee has left England with an uphill task ahead of the vote on December 2.

"It has significantly harmed England's bid," a senior member of the campaign team told BBC Sport.

Senior sources added that the prospect of any future media investigations into the conduct of Fifa officials – including a potential Panorama programme on the BBC – could be fatal for the bid’s chances.

One member of the bid team told the BBC: "The question is: can we recover from this? Fifa members feel they are being persecuted by the British media.

"It isn't dead and the next two or three weeks will be delicate but England's bid has been damaged and it's going to take a lot of hard work to repair that damage."

One move being considered by England's bid is to ask all the editors of the national newspapers and broadcasters to write to Fifa declaring their support for the 2018 bid.

That was a tactic used by the team leading London's bid for the 2012 Olympics when organisers feared that a Panorama investigation could derail the campaign.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter signalled the start of a backlash against the British media last week when he said of the undercover Sunday Times reports: "One can ask whether such an action is appropriate, trying to set traps for people. It is a deeply rooted problem [with the English media].

"Who is benefitting from this situation and who is being harmed? We are asking ourselves why did it happen and why did it happen specifically by English journalists? We are looking at that."

Meanwhile, the head of the Asian Football Confederation Mohamed Bin Hammam wrote on his blog: "Is it ethical to use unethical methods to protect the ethic? How will we clean dirty laundry by using dirty water?"