South Africa could be the destination for the 2014 Club World Cup after Leslie Sidibe, the chief executive of the South African Football Association (Safa), today said that his country have submitted a bid to host the Fifa event.
Abu Dhabi successfully staged the last two instalments of Fifa's only club tournament, with Japan set to host the competition for the next two years.
Mohammed Khalfan al Rumaithi, the president of the Football Association, told The National in December that he would like to see the end of year event return at the earliest opportunity, which would be 2013, providing they had Government backing to do so.
Sidibe told supersport.com website that Safa had submitted an application to Jerome Valcke, the Fifa secretary general.
Sedibe said South Africa "strongly believes" it can host the club championship after a successful 2010 World Cup, adding: "I think we have left the world with no doubt about our abilities to host major events."
South Africa was awarded the 2017 African Cup of Nations on Saturday, but lost out to Morocco for the 2015 tournament.
The UAE has also submitted bids to host the men's Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups, both to be staged in 2013, as well as the women's Under 17 competition in 2014.
* With agency
