A leaked FIFA technical report on bids to host Africa's first World Cup in 2010 puts South Africa ahead and its main rival Morocco in third place, South African newspapers said on Tuesday.
Soccer's governing body FIFA is due to put the report, of which at least three local papers say they have details, on its website at 1600 GMT on Tuesday. The vote on which country will host the 2010 World Cup takes place on May 15.
FIFA's five-man technical team has visited Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa to assess each country's technical ability to host the event.
"The report rates what the FIFA inspection team had seen of SA's ability to host the World Cup as 'excellent', followed by Egypt as 'very good', Morocco as 'good' and Libya and Tunisia's bid as a non-starter," South Africa's mass-market Sowetan daily said on Tuesday.
Tunisia and Libya are widely regarded as out of the race after going ahead with plans to host the event jointly despite FIFA President Sepp Blatter's assertion that joint bids would not be accepted after Japan and South Korea teamed up in 2002.
Blatter has said joint hosting raises costs without increasing income, thus limiting the event's profitability.
Placing Morocco behind Egypt appears to make South Africa a clear favourite to host the tournament. The Daily Sun described the leaking of the report as "a political move to sideline Morocco" ahead of the FIFA executive vote.
South African bid organisers were unavailable for comment.
The technical report was leaked before the vote for the 2006 World Cup when South Africa -- placed equal with Germany in the report -- lost by one vote after Oceania delegate Jack Dempsey defied orders to vote for South Africa and abstained.
Third-placed England accused FIFA of conspiring against them by leaking the document four days ahead of that vote.