Fifa ends World Cup rotation
The last time the World Cup was held in Europe and not won by a European nation was in 1958
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Monday, 29, Oct 2007 02:38
World football's governing body Fifa has announced an end to the rotation policy for bidding to host the four-yearly World Cup.
President Sepp Blatter announced the change at a meeting of the executive committee in Zurich today, which has convened to discuss a range of issues including the status of preparations for the next World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
Blatter, who was elected to the presidency in 1998, brought in the rotation policy after including the idea in his manifesto.
He is thought to have long-favoured a World Cup hosted in Africa for the first time, which was one of the key reasons for introducing the rotation plan.
However after the policy resulted in only one bid - Brazil's - for the 2014 World Cup, which was earmarked for South America, Fifa decided to rethink the rotation idea and have decided to disband it in favour of a more open system.
"Fifa's executive committee has voted to end its policy of rotating the hosting of [the] World Cup through its six continental confederations," a statement from the committee read.
"Countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments are barred from applying.
"South Africa was the first beneficiary of the policy, which was introduced in 2000, and is set to stage the next edition of the World Cup in 2010.
"Brazil is the only candidate bidding to stage the 2014 World Cup in South America and it could have its host status confirmed by the executive committee on Tuesday."
With the backing of the government, the Football Association are considering a bid for the World Cup in 2018.
However the bid is likely to face a number of rivals, including fellow European nation Russia, Asian confederation members China and Australia and Concacaf member the USA.