England's win over Trinidad and Tobago could be deemed void because of the introduction of seven substitutes during Sunday's friendly.In an incredible administrative cock-up, the FA have become embroiled in a war of words with FIFA who insist that the English governing body didn't have permission to break the rule which states that only six substitutes can be used in a single match.

Although an FA spokesman declared earlier in the week that "The opportunity to use seven substitutes was cleared in advance of the game by FIFA, Trinidad and Tobago representative Jack Warner, the FIFA delegate for the game and the match referee", FIFA are adamant that no such special dispensation was granted.

"FIFA did not give special dispensation to make up to seven substitutions in the Trinidad & Tobago v England match," their spokesman countered on Wednesday night.

Just a week after Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz escaped punishment for their rants against referee Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett because of another administrative cock-up, the embarrassing row casts fresh doubt on the competence of the governing body. Nor could it be worse timed.

The purpose of England's trip to the Caribbean was to curry favour with Warner, the Fifa vice-president, ahead of their bid to host the 2018 World Cup. A dispute with FIFA - especially one that could result in a game against Warner's native Trinidad - being scrubbed from the record books would be a disaster for the bid.

Ironically, the 'six substitutes' rule was introduced in response to the unattractive habit of former England manger Sven-Goran Eriksson using up to 11 replacements during a single match.

If the Trinidad and Tobago game is deemed invalid, Stephen Warnock, Dean Ashton, Joe Hart and Phil Jagielka would all lose their debut caps.

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