South Africa began laying the basis for a bid to host the 2020 Olympics when the most senior organiser of the 2010 World Cup dared Olympic organisers to turn down the chance to bring the games to the African continent for the first time.

Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the World Cup organising committee, drew comparisons between South Africa’s claim and Brazil’s successful appeal in September to the International Olympic Committee to award the 2016 Olympics to Rio.

“The pressure will be on the IOC,” Mr Jordaan said.

Rio made much of the absence of the Olympics from South America during its lobbying for the 2016 games. Bid organisers frequently displayed a world map showing the large number of European and north American cities that had staged the games, and comparing those continents with South America and Africa.

Mr Jordaan said: “Since 1896, no Olympics went to Africa, and it’s going to be harder to sustain the argument why Africa missed out.”

Previous arguments used to question the African continent’s ability to host one of the two main sporting events were being shot down, he added, reflecting South Africa’s increasing confidence in its preparations for next year’s showpiece event.

The World Cup would produce the best-ever revenues for Fifa, football’s world governing body, he predicted, countering the once commonly held view that the event would be a commercial disaster if it took place in Africa.

“The only question is whether a host country will have the capacity to deliver high definition television and all the new media platforms, and South Africa can and will,” said Mr Jordaan.

Sue van der Merwe, South Africa’s deputy minister for international relations and co-operation, said there had been discussions in government about launching a 2020 Olympic bid but no decision had been taken.

But she added: “The opportunity will certainly be there for South Africa and for the continent.”

Rio also made a virtue of Brazil having won the right to host the World Cup, saying this would help provide Rio with the infrastructure to stage the Olympics.

Similarly, Mr Jordaan stressed the legacy benefits of the World Cup, saying the development of roads, telecoms and technology and airport expansion had “created a systematic programme of infrastructure improvement”.