Johannesburg - Few international football tournaments have had such a troubled history as the Confederations Cup.

Considered arguably the second most important competition staged by the sport's governing body FIFA, the Confederations Cup has seen teams declining to participate and tragically, it has seen the only death of a player on the field of play during an international tournament.

Presently, the Confederations Cup is held every four years and sees the champions of the six FIFA confederations, as well as the World Cup winners and the hosts of the tournament participating.

The Confederations Cup evolved out of the Copa D'Oro, which saw the South American champions (the winners of the Copa America) face the European champions.

However, as this tournament featured just two teams, Saudi Arabia in 1992 hosted and organized a competition, which saw the hosts and a number of continental champions compete for the King Fahd Cup.

In 1997 it became a FIFA competition and was renamed the Confederations Cup and held every two years.

A number of countries, however, seemed reluctant to participate with Germany twice (in 1997 as reigning European champions and in 2003, when they qualified as World Cup runners-up) and France (in 1999 as World Cup winners) refusing to play in the competition.

This forced FIFA to look at the competition and it was decided that the Confederations Cup would be held only every four years in the year before the World Cup.

It was also decided that the tournament would be staged in the country hosting the World Cup the next year, thereby allowing the hosts a trial run - albeit much smaller - of the World Cup.

In 2005 FIFA said that participation would be compulsory for all continental champions except the European and South American ones, but as participation in the Confederations Cup gives countries an opportunity to test the waters ahead of the World Cup, it is unlikely that any country will turn down an opportunity to play in the competition.

Argentina, Denmark and Brazil won the first three editions staged in Saudi Arabia, while the hosts Mexico stunned Brazil 4-3 in the final in 1999 in a tournament that saw an average of 60,000 spectators watch the 16 matches.

In 2001, the tournament was - for the first time - used as a World Cup dress rehearsal as it was co-hosted by South Korea and Japan and France added the title to their 1998 World Cup victory with a 1-0 win against Japan.

The 2003 tournament in France was overshadowed by the tragic death of Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe, who collapsed and died during his country's semi-final against Colombia.

FIFA president Joseph Blatter came under severe criticism at the time for saying straight away that the final would go ahead, before having had an opportunity to speak to the finalists France and Cameroon.

In an attempt to save face, Blatter said that there were moves afoot to name the next tournament after Foe.

"We have already had a proposal that the next Confederations Cup would bear his name. It is an excellent idea which we will study," he said at the time - though seemingly nothing ever came of the idea.

The final itself was a sombre affair, with both teams paying tribute to Foe and the French players not really celebrating their 1- 0 victory.

The 2005 edition saw the first-ever final contested between two countries from the same confederation, with World Cup winners Brazil trouncing Argentina 4-0 in a one-sided match, which saw Dida play his 22nd Confederations Cup game.

The Brazilian goalkeeper has played in all but eight minutes of the time that the Selecao spent on the field during their five previous Confederations Cup participations.

Next year, the world's attention will turn to the top of Africa, where South Africa hosts the 8th Confederations Cup.

With many Europeans still very cynical about the readiness of the former Apartheid state to host the World Cup in 2010, the Confederations Cup is an opportunity for the South African local organizing committee to silence their critics.

It is an opportunity not to be missed as any problems during the June 14-28 tournament - which sees Brazil, Italy, Spain, Iraq, New Zealand, Egypt, US and South Africa competing - will give those, who are doubting South Africa World Cup preparations, plenty of ammunition.