Northern Ireland stars will be given one million reasons to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Irish FA President Raymond Kennedy today reveals to the Belfast Telegraph that he is fully behind a move to give Nigel Worthington's men a huge cash incentive to reach their first major tournament in over 20 years.

Northern Ireland arrived in scorching Bratislava yesterday afternoon ahead of their opening World Cup qualifying match against Slovakia on Saturday afternoon.

And Kennedy is determined to give the men in green a terrific boost to help them dispose of the intimidating Slovaks in their own "tropical" backyard, and give the qualifying campaign a wonderful start.

Then they must tackle and dispose of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, San Marino and Poland to finish in top spot in Group C – there is only one automatic qualifier for South Africa.

Two years ago then IFA President Jim Boyce offered a staggering £1 million to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals – unfortunately Northern Ireland fell just short at the final hurdle in Gran Canaria.

Kennedy hopes the Irish FA will offer a similar figure and plans to address the issue immediately.

"It has been something I've been thinking about and will need to discuss with the manager Nigel Worthington when I arrive in Bratislava later today," says Kennedy.

"It hasn't been spoken about at any level before this week and I can't speak for the manager or the board but it is something I would be supportive of.

"I'm aware that the previous Irish FA President promised a £1 million cash incentive if the boys qualified for Euro 2008 and I believe that was fair and would have been deserved.

"I would have no qualms at all and would not think it's unreasonable to say that if the boys qualified for the World Cup finals then the squad would share a pot of £1 million.

"That obviously has to be agreed with the relevant people, including the manager, but I don't really see why that shouldn't be possible.

"This is a matter that needs to be discussed and it will be something I will definitely bring up with Nigel Worthington later today."

The Irish FA are currently in no financial position to offer any cash reward – let alone a cool £1 million.

Kennedy, though, insists if Northern Ireland did manage to qualify for the finals in South Africa then they would be awarded millions of pounds – and some of that money would be used to reward the players.

"I'm led to believe that if we had’ve qualified for Euro 2008 we would have been guaranteed between £2 and £5 million. So £1 million of that would have gone to pay the players.

"I would expect to receive something similar if we would reach the World Cup finals – maybe even quite a bit more."