FIFA Executive Eagerly Anticipates Africa’s first World Cup
By Shout-Africa News – JOHANNESBURG, — The FIFA Executive Committee held a two-day meeting in Johannesburg chaired by FIFA President Blatter on 6 and 7 June 2010. The executive received reports on the preparations for the upcoming 60th FIFA Congress and the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, and expressed their satisfaction and anticipation with just days to go before the start of the first World Cup on African soil.
The Executive Committee decided to approve the change of date for the preliminary draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, which will be held six months earlier than in the past, in order to allow the confederations to begin their qualifying competitions in good time. The draw will be held in July-August 2011 with the exact date subject to confirmation.
Regarding the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups™, the executive decided to formally approve the principle of co-hosting for this process, since the joint bids of Belgium/Holland and Spain/Portugal have been presented with only one Local Organising Committee in each case.
Following changes in the government of Brunei Darussalam which provide a measure of hope that the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (BAFA) could be re-registered, the executive agreed to recommend to the FIFA Congress the suspension of the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (BAFA) instead of an expulsion as previously envisaged, and to request the Congress to give the FIFA Executive Committee the competence to temporarily lift the suspension of the BAFA until the 2011 FIFA Congress if the BAFA is re-registered.
Finally, the following decisions were taken by the Executive Committee during the meeting:
to approve the slot allocation for the 2012 Olympic Football Tournaments in London. For the men’s tournament, AFC will have 3.5 slots, CAF 3.5, CONCACAF 2, CONMEBOL 2, OFC 1 and UEFA 4 (including the host). For the women’s tournament, AFC will have 2 slots, CAF 2, CONCACAF 2, CONMEBOL 2, OFC 1 and UEFA 3 (including the host)
to confirm the replacement of the Cuba boys’ team with the Haiti boys’ team for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Singapore 2010. The Cuban football team was withdrawn by its Olympic Committee as the YOG regulations do not allow one country to compete in more than one team competition, and the Cuban boys’ volleyball team also qualified for the event
to approve the inclusion of a new Annexe in the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players relating to the implementation of the Transfer Matching System (TMS)
to approve the request from Football Federation Australia (FFA) and New Zealand Football (NZF) to allow the club Wellington Phoenix FC to play in the Australian National A-League for a further five-year period after 2011
