At the same time they have replied to the critics who believe that the nation is ill prepared to host the competition.

"Europe wants to determine when they are ready and when we are ready," said Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the World Cup bid committee.

"They are not entitled to decide when we are ready. We have met the requirements to host the World Cup,"

"We have more than enough world-class stadia for the event and superb road, rail and air links."

Jordaan also reacted to claims that South Africa's high crime rate figures would make staging such a competition prohibitive.

"We hosted the 1995 rugby union World Cup, the 1996 African Nations Cup and the 1998 Athletics World Cup without incident and are constantly gaining ground against organised crime," he said.

FIFA Director of Communications Keith Cooper talks to BBC Radio 5 Live

Six other nations -England, Germany, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, and Morocco - have thrown their names into the hat.

Fifa do not expect any more applications before Thursday's deadline, but the widely held perception is that South Africa are due the chance to hold the tournament.