 Blatter was in Tunisia last month |
Tunisia and Libya's hopes of co-hosting the 2010 World Cup finals were dashed on Thursday when Fifa ruled that only one African nation will host the tournament. Apart from Tunisia and Libya, South Africa, Morocco and Egypt are also bidding to become the first African host of the World Cup.
Fifa made its opposition to the co-hosting proposal known after a meeting of the world body's executive committee in Frankfurt.
"The executive... confirmed that, as a matter of principle, only one association will be entitled to host a Fifa World Cup," said Fifa in a statement.
Fifa chief Sepp Blatter was quoted last month in several Tunisian newspapers as saying that the idea had not been rejected outright.
But he had declined to accept the joint bid when Tunisia and Libya made their presentation on 30 September, saying he was only considering individual candidacies.
Japan and South Korea co-hosted the 2002 tournament but Fifa has often said it was a one-off exception.
Fifa will pick the African host of the 2010 finals on 15 May 2004 in Zurich, the Swiss city where Fifa has its headquarters.
MMIX
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