Fifa has signed a multi-million pound deal with Satyam to provide IT services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 event in Brazil.

Satyam will develop the core IT event management system for Fifa, its service partner MATCH AG, and local organising committees, during the next seven years.

Satyam’s business in South Africa doubled in the last 12 months. And the investment in local skills will help the economy, said the country's deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

"This kind of partnership is one we wish to have with even more companies wishing to do successful business in South Africa," she said.