/ 4 July 2000

BRAZIL WITHDRAWS 2006 CANDIDATURE

BRAZIL have withdrawn their candidature to host the 2006 World Cup and will instead be supporting South Africa’s bid, Brazilian Football Confederation president Ricardo Teixeira confirmed on Monday. In exchange South Africa will support Brazil hosting the event in 2010. The move follows reports that football’s world governing body FIFA were favouring South Africa’s bid, while the European body UEFA were backing Germany. FIFA’s 24-man executive board meets on Thursday in Zurich to decide which of the remaining four bidding countries – England, Germany, South Africa and Morocco – will win the biggest prize in sports.