The winners of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan will not get an automatic berth in the 2006 finals, FIFA announced today.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter told a news conference in South Korea: "We've taken quite an historic decision today. The champion of Korea/Japan 2002 will not be automatically qualified. This is new and even brand new".
Blatter said it was to allow the champions the chance to have official matches in the build-up to the following tournament rather than friendlies.
It also freed up one more slot in the finals for the confederations, he said.
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In the past World Cup winners have always qualified automatically for the next finals.