FIFA set to decide on continent allocations
Reuters - Sunday 20 February 2011, 13:34
ZURICH - FIFA will decide next month on
the prickly question of how many places each continent will be
allocated at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a member of the
executive committee was reported as saying on Sunday.
Junji Ogura said the matter would be debated and decided at
the next FIFA executive committee meeting in Zurich on March 2
and 3, Japan's Kyodo news agency said.
A FIFA spokesman told Reuters the meeting had been scheduled
and said the agenda would be confirmed in the next two or three
days.
The draw for the 2014 qualifying competition is due to be
made in Rio de Janeiro on July 30.
Asia Football Confederation president Mohammad Bin Hammam
said last month that Asia would not agree to anything less than
the four-and-a-half places it has in Brazil.
Australia, North Korea, South Korea and Japan represented
Asian in 2010 while Bahrain lost in a play-off to New Zealand,
winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament.
Jack Warner, president of the CONCACAF federation
representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, has
already said that his region want their quota increased to four
direct places.
CONCACAF had three guaranteed spots in South Africa last
year while Costa Rica lost to Uruguay in a play-off for another
place.
South America, which had four-and-a-half places in South
Africa, is hopeful of maintaining its quota with Brazil, who
qualify automatically as hosts, being an additional team for the
continent.
Africa had six teams at the 2010 World Cup including South
Africa as hosts, although only one - Ghana - made it past the
first round.
Europe had 13 teams at the 2010 World Cup, of which seven
were eliminated in the group stage and three made it to the
semi-finals.