The 24-member executive committee of world soccer`s ruling body, FIFA, is scheduled to pick the host country for the 2006 finals in March 2000.
Countries applying to host the 32-nation tournament have until the end of the month to confirm their bids. Detailed bid documents are to be submitted in July, and a FIFA technical audit of the applicants will be carried out between September and next January.
Brazil, England and Germany are in the running while the current field of five African candidates - South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Ghana - is widely expected to be reduced to two or three.
"If the World Cup is going to maintain its commercial viability as a product we must make sure that teams from all over the world can compete on equal terms," said Danny Jordaan, chief executive of South Africa`s 2006 bid campaign.
Despite their prodigious talent, many African teams lagged behind soccer sides from industrialised nations due to lack of financial and scientific resources, he told a news conference.
In the longer term, soccer could only maintain its worldwide appeal for hundreds of millions of TV viewers - and thus generate revenue from television rights for the benefit of the sport - if teams from all continents had equal opportunities to win, Jordaan said.
All five African candidates shared the view, also endorsed publicly by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, that it was Africa`s turn to host the World Cup finals in 2006, he said.
The 1994 event was held in the United States, France hosted the 1998 World Cup, and Japan and South Korea will jointly stage the 2002 finals.
"It is Africa`s turn in 2006," Jordaan said.
He dismissed claims that having several candidates from Africa would weaken the continent`s chances.
"When two or more European countries enter bids it is called competition. For us it is also competition...not division and chaos," he said.
However, just one week ago, Jordaan said it was imperative that Africa present only one bid. The Confederation of African Foootball (CAF) has also called for a single candidate but refused to back any of the applicants.
With 12 stadiums seating 40,000 or more spectators, modern air, road and rail transport infrastructure, state-of-the-art telecommunications and banking networks as well as a wide variety of hotels, South Africa fulfils all criteria, Jordaan said.
"We don`t want charity. We must be tested rigorously against FIFA requirements. We are saying that we will meet those requirements," he said.
Since the fall of apartheid and its readmittance to international sport in the early 1990s, South Africa successfully hosted the 1995 rugby World Cup, the 1996 soccer African Nations Cup and the 1998 athletics World Cup.
It will stage the All Africa Games this year and has been chosen to host the cricket World Cup in 2003.
The 2006 soccer World Cup bid committee is calculating with television revenues of approximately eight billion rands ($1.32 billion) and income from sponsorship agreements of some three billion rands ($494 million).
On the economic front, hosting the 2006 World Cup finals had been estimated to create 150,000 jobs and boost gross domestic product by two percent, Jordaan said. ($=6.0675 Rands).
Reuters
