The Japanese organizing committee (JAWOC) for next year's World Cup finals will slash its operating budget for soccer's showcase event to be cohosted with South Korea, committee officials said Friday.

The committee approved a plan to adjust an exchange rate in finalizing the budget for the May 31-June 30 tournament, which will result in a sharp decrease from the 63.4 billion yen earmarked in the draft budget drawn up in March 2000.

The draft called for an exchange rate of 110 yen to the U.S. dollar for ticket sales revenues and 120 yen for a share of revenues to be distributed to the host countries by the sport's world governing body, FIFA.

In Friday's meeting, JAWOC executives agreed to revise the rates downward to a uniform 108 yen and promote cost-cutting efforts while reconsidering details of the budget due to be finalized March 30.

In anticipation of downsizing the budget, the organizing committee had already asked each of the 10 domestic municipalities that will host World Cup matches to earmark an additional 1 billion yen as a stopgap measure.

JAWOC secretary general Yasuhiko Endo said he understands all the local governments involved have given the nod to the plan.

Meanwhile, the organizing committee said domestic World Cup ticket applications by mail have reached 112,362 since the Feb. 16 start while replacement servers are still being tested for Internet applications, which have been delayed.

JAWOC officials also indicated that a committee would be formed in March to help organize the Confederations Cup to be held in May and June this year. Japan Football Association chief, Shunichiro Okano, will serve as its president.