FIFA yesterday rejected north and central American demands for four full places in football’s 2014 World Cup as it granted host Brazil an automatic berth under a broadly unchanged system.
The executive committee of world football’s governing body decided that South America’s CONMEBOL would keep its “4.5” qualifying berths alongside the host – four plus another decided in a play-off against a side from another continent.
Overall the balance between the different continents among the 32 participants in the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil will be based on the same principle as in 2006 and 2010, according to FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke.
The North America, Central America and Caribbean football confederation (CONCACAF) had been seeking an additional full berth – a total of four instead of 3.5.
“CONCACAF was not so happy but finally they have to admit that the huge majority of the executive committee wanted to maintain the principle that has prevailed in the past,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter told journalists.
Africa will revert to 4.5 World Cup places, after gaining one additional slot in the 2010 World Cup because of host South Africa’s automatic qualification.
Europe kept 13, while Asia and Oceania’s allocation of 4.5 and 0.5 respectively were unchanged.
However, the fixed pattern of play-offs between the weakest of the qualifiers in the Americas on one hand, and Asia and Oceania on the other, was changed.
They will now be arranged by a random draw instead, FIFA said.
Meanwhile, Blatter hailed Africa’s first World Cup in 2010 as a financial success, after it pushed the governing body’s four-year revenues above four billion dollars for the first time.
Choice vindicated
Blatter claimed it vindicated the choice of South Africa despite fears that the decision to bring football’s biggest tournament to the continent was a financial risk. I am the happiest man to announce that the World Cup in South Africa was a huge, huge financial success for everybody, for Africa for South Africa, for FIFA,” he said.
“For the first time in FIFA’s four-year accounts we are over four billion dollars.”
FIFA, a non-profit association under Swiss law, earned 4.189 billion dollars in its 2007 – 2010 financial period, with a surplus of 631 million dollars, deputy secretary general and finance chief Markus Kattner said.
Eighty-seven per cent of total revenues – 3.655 billion dollars – over the period were related to the 2010 World Cup.
Traditionally the bulk of earnings are down to deals on broadcasting rights worldwide and marketing or sponsorship contracts.
“The sale of television and marketing rights was more successful than expected,” Kattner underlined.
Last year alone revenues reached 1.29 billion dollars with a surplus of 202 million.
Although the surplus is redistributed among footballing nations, over the past four years FIFA has nearly doubled its cash reserves to 1.28 billion dollars.