Although the bid team has a separate CEO in Andy Anson, Perryman insists Watmore's exit will sit very badly among the 24-man executive committee of FIFA who will vote on who should host the 2018 and 2022 finals in December.

Perryman told Press Association Sport: "It's not good for football. I don't think it has much effect on this World Cup campaign but I certainly think it has a direct effect on the 2018 bid.

"There are only 24 people in world football (the FIFA executive committee) who vote on this and one of the things they will be looking at is the state of the home FA.

"I don't think it does our bid any favours at all and certainly Spain and Portugal will be making a nuisance of themselves in terms of this news, and who would blame them?"

Perryman was impressed by Watmore in his dealings with him, but thinks he quit his post because he was losing the battle to make the FA the central power base in the English game.

"I felt he was a real politician in the sense that he could see the real power struggles within football and was very aware of what he was up against," Perryman added.

"He seemed to be determined to shift the balance back to the FA being responsible for football, which is what a lot of fans want.

"It seems to me he lost that battle and he wasn't prepared to serve out his time on the losing side.

"Fans aren't particularly bothered who is the chairman and who is the chief executive and so on but they do want the FA to run football. This is further evidence of that power being eroded."

Perryman added: "Ian Watmore had an incredible CV in terms of business and the civil service. We have had some significant figures in the role in recent years and each of them has gone, so I think anyone would think twice about taking on this job.

"I don't think this is necessarily the catalyst for an overhaul. He has resigned because he didn't think he was winning, so the people who are winning will think, 'we've driven another one out, bring on the next one'."

Former acting FA chief executive David Davies told BBC Radio Five Live this morning that he feels the game's powerbrokers do not do enough to create the right conditions for the England team to be successful at World Cups.

Perryman agrees, and had three ways in which a difference could be made.

"When we play a competitive international we shouldn't be playing on the (previous) Sunday. That would give the manager an extra day, and that would make a significant difference," he said.

"The decision-maker there would be Sky and ESPN, as much as the Premier League. This would be a chance for Sky to say 'we are making this sacrifice, this is how much it's going to cost us but we are willing to back it'.

"The other thing that needs to be looked at is when the season ends. I think that needs to be two weeks earlier in a tournament year. We should also look at reintroducing the B internationals.

"I would like to see the friendlies not involving shedloads of substitutes. It devalues the performance of the players and the experience of the fans. Alongside that I'd like to see B internationals. Yes, we have the Under-21s but sometimes you have players who are 23, 24 or 25 who you want to have a look at.

"Also, now that all the senior internationals have moved to Wembley, it gives fans the opportunity to see, albeit not the very top players, but a decent match."