FIFA Vice-President Issa Hayatou provided a report on the preliminary draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa as well as other matters relating to the tournament itself, following which the Executive Committee ratified the decisions taken by the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup™ at it’s meeting in Durban on 24 November 2007.
Positive reports on the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and the Club World Cup were also given by the chairmen of the respective FIFA organising committees, Ricardo Teixeira and Viacheslav Koloskov With respect to the Club World Cup, it was noted thai Portugal, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Japan had expressed an interest in hosting this competition in 2009 and 2010 These four associations received the list of requirements in mid-January 2008 and have until 15 May 2008 to submit their full bidding documentation. The FIFA Executive Committee will reach a decision on tne host association for the two tournaments at its meeting in Sydney on 27 May 2008.
With respect to the history of the FIFA Club World Cijp and intercontinental club competitions in years gone by, such as the Copa Rio in the 1950s, the Executive Committee endorsed the view that the first edition of this competition was held in 2000 in Brazil where Corinthians became the very first FIFA club world champions. Other tournaments are not considered official FIFA events.

As the 2008 0 ympic Football Tournaments in Beijing approach, the executive welcomed news TOITI the International Olymoic Committee (IOC) that the situation regarding pollution in the CITV is gradualiy improving. While no further action was deemed necessary in this resoect, there was firm opposition to tne proposed 12 noon kick-offs for trie fina.s of the tournament in view of the high ieTperatures at that lime of tne day.
After hearing a report on the recent World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid, the Executive Committee welcomed the latest amendments to the World Ant!-Dop.ng Code, particularly the inclusion of the ormciple of individual case management in relation to sanctions.
The Executive Committee also supported the submission of a proposal to the 2008 FIFA Congress that an article be added to the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes, stipulating that promotion and relegation in leagues must be determined by sporting merit alone and forbidding the amendment of a club’s legal form or structure to circumvent this requirement.
Dealing with matters pertaining to member associations, the committee refused to recognise recent elections held by the Central African Republic football association on account of governmental interference and ordered the association to organise new elections in the coming three months under the supervision of FIFA and CAF. A normalisation committee will be set up to launch this process. In the case of Iran and Peru, FIFA will continuesto monitor developments within the associations closely. Meanwhile, the file regarding Kuwait was closed thanks to the association’s compliance with FIFA directives.

With regard to the ir’al of goal-line technology at the FIFA Cub World Cup in Japan, the FIFA Executive Committee noied thai the findings wouid be presented and subsequently discussed at the next Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board in Gleneagles tScotland) or 8 March 2008.
In line with the recommendation tabled by leading international medical specialists on high altitude at a seminar in Zurich at Ihe end of October 2007, the FIFA Executive Committee agreed that, unless those involved were allowed to acclimatise, no rratches in FIFA competitions would be permitted at an altitude in excess of 2,750 metres above sea level. This decision will be integrated into ail FIFA competition regulations with immediate effect and it was recommendeo that the same limit be enforced in all other international competitions.
Also in the domain of sporti medicine, the go-ahead was given for FIFA to cooperate with UEFA in a study on olood doping and for preventative cardiac screening examinations like those conducted on players prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ to be extended to all FIFA competitons – for both olayers and match officials. The 2008 edition of the FIFA Doping Control Regulations and the Olympic Movement’s Medical Code were a’so accepted.