FIFA officially put its troubled financial past behind it on Monday when its financial report for the 1999-2002 period showed a revenue surplus of 115 million Swiss francs ($82.0 million).

FIFA, world soccer's governing body and a non profit-making organisation, also forecast a surplus of 170 million Swiss francs for the next four-yearly World Cup cycle from 2003 to 2006.

The figures represent a stunning turnaround since May 2002 when FIFA estimated a total deficit of 134 million Swiss francs for the four-year cycle.

The 80-page report said that FIFA had suffered problems in 2001 with the bankruptcy of marketing partners ISL-ISMM and one of its television partners, the Kirch media group in Germany.

AXA also cancelled insurance cover for the 2002 World Cup following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The turnaround had been possible because FIFA had re-organised its administration and introduced the SCORE project which aimed to reduce costs while at the same time generating additional revenue.

The financial crisis in the spring of 2002 also resulted in the biggest political fall-out in FIFA's 100-year history with former general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen leaving the organisation after the World Cup because of allegations he made against the way FIFA president Sepp Blatter had managed FIFA's affairs.

Blatter was later cleared of financial mismanagement by a Swiss court and in March won damages for defamation.

Blatter said on Monday; "This report marks yet another step in the direction FIFA has taken to ensure transparency and quality in its finances."

FIFA reported revenues of 2.68 billion Swiss francs for the four years to 2002, with expenditure of 2.57 billion. In the current cycle FIFA said it was expecting revenues of 2.042 billion and expenditure of 1.872 billion.

It said the lower revenues were due to the fact that FIFA had already cashed in future revenue of 336 million Swiss francs in 2001 -- resources that were for the most part still available.

The next World Cup should also be less costly because it is being staged by a single country, Germany, rather than two countries as in 2002 when Japan and South Korea jointly held the finals.

The report will be presented for approval at the Extraordinary Congress in Doha, Qatar, on October 19 and 20.

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