Executive Committee approves voting process

The FIFA Executive Committee, chaired by President Joseph S. Blatter, approved the voting process to determine the hosts of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ and 2022 FIFA World Cup™ during their meeting held in Zurich on 28 and 29 October. The voting will take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on 2 December 2010 and the process will be as follows:

• The 2018 vote will take place first, then the 2022 one. The vote will be by secret ballot and all eligible members of the FIFA Executive Committee can vote in both ballots
• To win the right to host the competition, a bidder must obtain an absolute majority (50% + 1) of the votes of the FIFA Executive Committee members present
• In the event of a tie when only two bidders remain, the FIFA President will have the casting vote
• For any voting round in which an absolute majority is not achieved, the bidder with the lowest number of votes will not progress to the next voting round
• If there is a tie for the lowest number of votes in any round, an intermediate voting round will be conducted to determine which of the tied bidders does not progress
• When the final decision on the host has been taken, the result will be put in two envelopes and taken by the notary to the “Messe Zurich”, where they will be handed over to the FIFA President for the announcements

The order of the presentations by the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup™ bidders to the Executive Committee was also drawn during the meeting. On 1 December, Australia will give their presentation at 14.00 CET, Korea Republic at 15.00, Qatar at 16.00, the USA at 17.00 and Japan at 18.00. On 2 December, Belgium/Netherlands will give their presentation at 09.00, Spain/Portugal at 10.00, England at 11.00 and Russia at 12.00. Each presentation will be made at the Home of FIFA in Zurich and last 30 minutes. All presentations will be broadcast live on FIFA.com and at the “Messe Zurich”.

The committee also approved a proposal by the FIFA President to create a “Task Force Football 2014”, which will be composed of members of the Football Committee, the Technical and Development Committee, the Medical Committee, the Referees Committee and other football experts in order to conduct an in-depth analysis of the game as it is today and determine ways to improve football in all areas. A similar task force was previously established by FIFA in 1990.

In addition, the Executive Committee decided to lift the suspension on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after receiving confirmation that the court actions against elected members of the NFF had ceased and that they could now work without hindrance.

Regarding other pending cases, the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FFBH) will have until 31 March 2011 to bring its statutes into line with the FIFA Statutes or face automatic suspension and the establishment of an interim committee.

The committee also confirmed that the Fédération Togolaise de Football (FTF) has until 6 November 2010 to organise the elections of the FTF or face an automatic suspension. No list of candidates presented after 15 October 2010 will be accepted for these elections.

Several other decisions were taken and reports presented during the meeting:

• a report on the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa was presented, and the final financial figures related to this competition will be provided after the Local Organising Committee Board meeting later this year
• reports were provided on the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups 2010, as well as on the girls’ and boys’ Youth Olympic Football Tournaments in Singapore
• the prize money for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ will be increased by USD 1.2 million to USD 7.6 million
• the bidding process for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ has been launched and member associations must confirm their interest by 26 November. The decision on the host will be taken by the Executive Committee in March 2011.
• the Executive Committee decided to increase the number of participants in the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012 from 20 to 24 teams
• the committee agreed to make the Pre-Competition Medical Assessment (PCMA) mandatory for players and referees prior to all FIFA final competitions. This assessment was already successfully conducted before the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
• special assistance of an additional USD 2 million approved by the Goal Bureau for the renovation of football infrastructure in Pakistan after the damage caused recently by floods in the country was ratified by the Executive Committee. In total, 54 new Goal projects were approved, raising the total number to 504 projects in 194 associations. In addition, it was confirmed that USD 120 million have been allocated to special projects, including Win in Africa with Africa and other regional projects
• the committee confirmed that the 61st FIFA Congress would be held in Zurich on 31 May and 1 June 2011
• the committee approved the creation of the company FIFA Ticketing AG in order for FIFA to have stronger control over ticketing operations and ensure a clearer allocation of tasks and decision-making power vis-à-vis the Local Organising Committee and MATCH Services AG.