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England’s 2018 World Cup bid has written to Fifa distancing itself from corruption allegations made against football's world governing body by the British media.

England officials have also pleaded with Fifa's executive committee to base its decision on the merits of the bid.

The letter, signed by bid chairman Geoff Thompson and international president David Dein, is the latest attempt to put England's campaign back on track ahead of the vote on December 2.

England is facing defeat after a backlash from Fifa members in response to an investigation by the Sunday Times into alleged corruption in the bidding process.

Two executive committee members, Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti, face a Fifa ethics committee hearing this week into the newspaper's claims that they were willing to offer their support in return for money for football projects.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing and will fight the allegations during the three-day hearing.

England 2018 also fears it could be damaged by an upcoming BBC Panorama investigation into Fifa, due to be screened on November 29 – just three days before the vote.

Thompson and Dein wrote: "In recent weeks, the role of the British media and its relationship with both Fifa as an organisation and the individual members of the Fifa executive committee has come under the spotlight and there has been significant speculation as to the effect that this might have on our bid.

"It has been a difficult time for Fifa and as a member of the football family we naturally feel solidarity with you and your colleagues.

"It is now public knowledge that we have made representations to the BBC regarding a forthcoming documentary they are planning. We are alerting you to fact that the programme appears in part to be raking over allegations, some of which are up to 10-years-old and have already been formally dealt with by Fifa and the Swiss courts.

"We hope England's bid will not be judged negatively due to the activities of individual media organisations, regardless of one's view of their conduct. We hope you appreciate that we have no control over the British media."