Although he refused to say which firm rejected his offer, Buffett added that he would leave his bid on the table for 30 days to give the insurers time to find better offers.
England currently head the Group Six 2010 World Cup qualifying table and face Ukraine on 1 April in a bid to move closer to the finals in South Africa.
As kick-off approached, it looked for all the world as if the skipper's turnaround would give the Blues the platform from which to launch their bid to overtake bitter rivals Manchester United at the top of the table.
The previous French attempt to regain a place at the top table of military planning collapsed in 1996, partly because France bid too high for senior commands.
In Saturday's early kickoff, their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur stepped up their bid for the final Champions League place with a 3-1 win over mid-table Blackburn.