The decision is in line with FIFA's new rotation policy of ensuring continents get an equal chance to host soccer's premier event.
Said FIFA president Sepp Blatter: "The naming of this confederation which has not organised a World Cup since 1978 and which has won this event nine times is logical."
Africa will be the first beneficiary of the rotation policy when it hosts the 2010 event. Germany will host the 2006 tournament.
The decision to award the event to South America in 2014 was taken by FIFA's strategic studies commission.
Meanwhile, FIFA's relentless march towards demonstrating its finances are transparent has taken a leap forward after its Internal Audit Committee (IAC) met for the first time this week and became an official FIFA standing committee.
The IAC is an independent FIFA body that, along with FIFA’s official external auditors KPMG, is responsible for supervising the accounting practices and financial management of world football’s governing body.
The IAC will present an annual report to the FIFA Congress and its first task will be to scrutinise the closing balance sheet and the profit and loss account of both the year 2002 and the period 1999 – 2002.
Dr Franco Carraro of Italy, who originally proposed the creation of the IAC, chairs the committee, with Basil Scarsella (Australia) acting as deputy chairman. Both men are regarded as experts in the area of finance – as are their fellow committee members Farouk Bouzo (Syria), Justino JosC) Fernandes (Angola), Dr JosC) Salim (Brazil), Mathieu Sprengers (Netherlands) and Jeffrey Webb (Cayman Islands). The IAC thus also includes a number of confederation treasurers.
Blatter stressed that the IAC had a vital role to play in ensuring complete transparency in FIFA’s finances. As is the case with all other FIFA standing committees, the rights and duties of the IAC will be incorporated in the FIFA Statutes, which are currently under revision.
The IAC is scheduled to meet twice a year. However, it can be convened at the request of two of its members, or at the behest of the FIFA president, the FIFA general secretary or the head of finance.
Following each meeting, the chairman will submit the committee’s conclusions and recommendations to the Finance Committee. The IAC will report directly to the national associations at each FIFA Congress, starting with the 2003 Extraordinary FIFA Congress in Qatar on 19 – 20 October.
