Oceania recommends changes to World Cup qualifiers
The Oceania Football Confederation has announced it plans to increase the number of qualifying matches it plays if the region is awarded an automatic place for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
OFC representatives agreed at a meeting in Auckland to recommend an increase in the number of teams contesting the final qualifying stage from two to four.
Under the current system, the two preliminary group winners meet in a two-leg home and away series to determine the Oceania winner. That team then has to playoff against a team from another confederation.
Australia has won the Oceania title the last four times only to be beaten in the playoff by Scotland (1990), Argentina (1994), Iran (1998) and Uruguay (2002).
But Oceania has been lobbying the sport's world governing body to award the region an automatic place saying the current system is unfair. FIFA are expected to make a decision later this year.
If Oceania is granted a spot, OFC officials said they would have to change the existing qualifying process to ensure enough matches were played.
"Should OFC be granted direct entry to the World Cup we would need to justify the number of matches played in order for a team to qualify directly for the World Cup," an OFC statement said.
The recommended plan would see the region split into two pools from which the top two teams would advance to a separate series to decide the regional representative.
But the plan has already been criticised by Australian coach Frank Farina who said the extra matches would only escalate the problems Australia already faces trying to get overseas clubs to release their players.
"It is going to be a tough situation," Farina told The Australian. "There will be more games, more toing and froing (with clubs) and more travelling for the players."
The OFC's recommendations also came under fire from New Zealand soccer authorities over the decision to switch the Olympic Games qualifiers to June 2003 instead of January 2004.
New Zealand said they would boycott the Olympic qualifiers because they clashed with the proposed dates for the Oceania Nations Cup where they will defend their title.
