Brazil 2014 no guarantee

"We have said that the 2014 World Cup will be staged in South America, but if there is no candidate strong enough then we would go north instead as the logical thing," Blatter told a

media conference following a two-day meeting of FIFA's executive committee.

"We took the decision to ask South America's 10 associations if they wanted to organise the World Cup and now nine of them have come out in favour of Brazil. But Brazil would still have to undergo the same scrutiny as previous bids.

"The bar has been set very high after the last World Cup (in Germany) and if the only candidate from South America were not to fulfil the requirements then we would go beyond South America."

The 2010 World Cup will take place in South Africa.