South Africa have withdrawn their bid to host next year’s Confederations Cup to focus on winning the right to stage the 2010 World Cup finals. South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant said on Monday it had formally pulled out of the race to host the eight-nation event, scheduled for the middle of next year."There were several reasons but the strongest was our desire to focus on the 2010 bid. We also did not want to be the cause of potential division in the FIFA executive committee when they decide on the Confederations Cup hosts," he said. FIFA are due to decide on the hosts when their executive committee meets in Zurich later this month.Australia, France and the United States are the three other candidates who have bid for the competition, which includes the winners of the six continental championships with world champions Brazil and the host nation.South Africa had originally said it sought to host the Confederations Cup as part of their 2010 bid strategy, seeing the tournament as a chance to showcase their organisational ability ahead of the decision on which African country will host the 2010 World Cup.
