World Cup squad lists on May 24

The squad lists of the 32 countries competing in the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan will be announced on May 24, FIFA said on Thursday.

Regulations state that each nation can list a maximum of 23 players that must be submitted to the FIFA general secretariat at least 10 days before the first match of the finals, which is on May 31.

Three players in each 23-man squad must be goalkeepers, of which one must wear the traditional number one shirt.

FIFA said that only cases of 'force majeure' recognised by the World Cup Organising Committee would be accepted if teams wished to change their squad after the deadline.

A squad player may be replaced if he suffers a serious injury until 24 hours before his team's opening match of the competition.

If such a situation occurred, a detailed medical assessment confirmed by the FIFA Sports Medical Committee would allow a nation to nominate a replacement player.