FIFA decided Thursday that its six continents will keep the same number of qualifying places for the 2014 World Cup as they had in 2010.
However, an open draw will decide the playoff round matchups instead of the prearranged pairings that counted against North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) last time.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the executive committee rejected CONCACAF's request for a fourth guaranteed slot of the 31 available to join host Brazil.
"It's impossible to make always everybody happy. If we look at the sporting results of the World Cup in 2010 there was no reason to change anything," Blatter said.
Qualification for the 2010 World Cup pitted South America's fifth-placed team against CONCACAF's fourth-place side in a two-leg playoff to decide the last country booking their ticket to South Africa.
It meant eventual semifinalist Uruguay eliminated Costa Rica — an outcome CONCACAF leaders wanted to avoid repeating.
"CONCACAF was not so eager to play again in a playoff with (South America)," Blatter said. "That's why it has been decided there shall be a draw."
The playoffs will feature South America's fifth-placed team, CONCACAF's fourth-placed, Asia's fifth-placed and Oceania's qualification winner. For 2010, New Zealand eliminated Bahrain in a playoff.
Asian delegate Worawi Makudi of Thailand said his region had "gone along with the majority" to back the plan.
Africa will have five qualifiers advancing to Brazil, while four South American teams are guaranteed to qualify in addition to the host. Europe keeps its 13-team allocation. Africa had six teams in 2010 as South Africa qualified as the host.
The draw will be made in Brazil in July to determine the playoff pairings by confederation, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said.
Valcke said a host city was yet to be determined for the main qualification draw on July 30.
FIFA and the Brazilian organizing committee also do not know which city will host the opening match in June 2014, which was intended for Sao Paulo.
City officials and the Corinthians club hope its upgraded 65,000-capacity stadium will be ready on time and approved.
"The decision of the stadium is a sporting decision and not a political decision," Blatter said.
Also on Thursday:
— The Somalia football federation officially nominated Blatter as a candidate for the FIFA presidential election. The poll is scheduled June 1 when FIFA's 208 national members gather for their Congress in Zurich.
Blatter said he was not aware of any conversation among his executive committee colleagues this week to suggest any will stand in the way of his fourth four-year term.
— FIFA chose Hungarian capital Budapest to host the 2012 FIFA Congress and Mauritius for 2013.
— Franz Beckenbauer will head a Blatter-inspired "Task Force 2014" to suggest ways of making the next World Cup more exciting than the last. The German great, who is stepping down from FIFA's ruling panel in June, will lead the group's first meeting on March 29.
— FIFA referred a request by Kosovo for its national and club teams to play international matches to European authority UEFA. Blatter said a nation could not join the football family before it was recognized by the United Nations.
— Attending their first meetings of FIFA's high command were David Chung of Papua New Guinea, elected Oceania president in January, and Algeria's Mohamed Raouraoua who was elected by the African confederation last week. They replace Reynald Temarii of Tahiti and Nigerian Amos Adamu who were suspended by FIFA last November during bidding contests for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
No comments:
Post a Comment