FIFA to reject joint Tunisia/Libya World Cup bid

A joint bid by Libya and Tunisia to host the 2010 World Cup finals will not be approved , FIFA president Sepp Blatter has confirmed.

‘Co-hosting between Libya and Tunisia will not be accepted by the Executive Committee,” Blatter told reporters.

FIFA is due to decide on May 15 the identity of the first African country to host the event.

Egypt, Morocco and South Africa are also in the running.

“When there are individual countries capable of organising the event we will not enter into a discussion which is against our statutes,” Blatter said.

Despite the success of the Japan and South Korea co-hosted finals in 2002, FIFA have made it clear that in future, shared bids would not be approved.

Blatter claims that interest in the finals is growing.

“This proves that it’s not the place where a competition is played that provides the economic impact, but the competition itself and its inherent value… which is excellent,” Blatter added.