FA 'very hopeful' Kidd will be fit for Euro 2004 duty

Football Association officials are "very hopeful" that Brian Kidd, the England coach being treated for prostate cancer, will be fit for this summer's Euro 2004 finals. Middlesbrough's Steve McClaren is on standby in case Kidd is not well enough to travel.

Football Association officials are "very hopeful" that Brian Kidd, the England coach being treated for prostate cancer, will be fit for this summer's Euro 2004 finals. Middlesbrough's Steve McClaren is on standby in case Kidd is not well enough to travel.

McClaren has given Sven Goran Eriksson better news of central defender Gareth Southgate, who hopes to be fit for the finals, if selected, when the provisional squad is named tomorrow week.

The FA have expressed their concern about the use of giant screens in public places during the championships. A spokesman said: "It was around these screens that there was most trouble in places like Marseilles during the 1998 World Cup. We'd like to avoid large gatherings, and have advised the organisers that we don't consider them to be a good idea."

Meanwhile, Tunisia have withdrawn from bidding for the 2010 World Cup after Fifa rejected their proposal to co-host their event with Libya, Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The withdrawal leaves South Africa as favourites, followed by Morocco and Egypt, when the Fifa executive committee vote on Saturday. In the Fifa technical report Tunisia and Libya were ranked bottom in the list of candidates. South Africa, who controversially lost out to Germany for the 2006 showpiece, were considered the most technically equipped for 2010, followed by Egypt and Morocco.

The head of the South African bid committee, Danny Jordaan, attended the Asian Football Confederation's 50th anniversary celebrations in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. "We want to deliver a world-class World Cup," he said. "We want to demonstrate that there's no contradiction between being African and being world-class."

Blatter also confirmed that Japan will host a revamped World Club Championship in 2005. He said the tournament would feature the top teams from each continental body to determine the top club side in the world.

Japan has traditionally hosted the Toyota Cup, an annual game between the champions of Europe and South America for the unofficial title of best club in the world. "You have to include the rest of the world to make it a world championship," Blatter said. "How can Europe versus South America be known as a world club championship?"