The bidding procedure for the next two available World Cups is expected to be announced today, following two days of discussions by world soccer's governing body FIFA.

FIFA's executive committee is due to announce a deadline by which bids have to be entered as well as deciding if bidding should take place simultaneously for the 2018 and 2022 events.

Friday's timetable announcement is expected to prompt a flood of offers to host an event that is generally regarded as the second biggest sporting occasion after the Summer Olympics.

FIFA spokesperson Nicolas Maingot said on Thursday that Belgium and Netherlands' plan to stage the 2018 World Cup was the only bid to have been formally declared to the sport's governing body.

Several other countries, including the United States, Mexico, England, Spain, China and Australia, have however expressed interest either on an informal basis to FIFA officials or through national media statements.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he is in favour of a joint bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, even though such a move would be complicated by his organisation's altered policy on the World Cup's global rotation.

FIFA threw out its concept of strict continental rotation last October, but still insists that a World Cup cannot be held on a continent that has hosted one of the two preceding World Cups.

For 2018 the situation should be simple with Africa and South America unable to bid for the event due to South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup and Brazil's staging of the 2014 version.

Countries hoping to bid for the 2022 event would however face the risk of being automatically ruled out in the event that FIFA awards the 2018 tournament to a country on the same continent.

FIFA have not yet made clear if countries will be able to mount bids for both 2018 and 2022.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 24, 2008)