FIFA 2010

FIFA, international football's governing body, has given organisers of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa a profit guarantee of 80 million dollars no matter how the tournament does financially.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 60th FIFA Congress on Thursday in Johannesburg, the sources told the German Press Agency, DPA that the decision on the guarantee had been made at a meeting of the FIFA executive committee at the beginning of the week in the South African city.

FIFA executive committee members include former German football star Franz Beckenbauer, now a vice-president of the German Football Association (DFB).

FIFA expects the 2010 World Cup to generate a profit reaching at least the three-figure million mark.

In its annual financial report, published in March, FIFA said it had made a profit of 196 million dollars in 2009 and amassed 1.061 billion dollars in reserves.