KUALA LUMPUR, 24 March 2005 — Australia’s request to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was given unanimous support by Asia’s governing body yesterday.

Australia have already asked soccer’s world body FIFA for permission to leave the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in order to make future World Cup qualification easier.

Any move, however, would need to be formally approved by FIFA. “The AFC executive committee has endorsed the wishes of Australia to join the AFC,” AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam told reporters. “But it has to go through the proper channels.

“Australia must first resign from the OFC and then apply officially to join the AFC. It also has to be approved by FIFA. The legalities will take some time.”

The “Socceroos” could be eligible to take part in the 2007 Asian Cup in Southeast Asia.

“We are very heartened by the news that the (AFC) has endorsed our wishes to join them,” said Football Federation of Australia (FFA) Chairman Frank Lowy in a statement.

“It is a very positive step and we look forward to meeting the AFC President...who arrives in Sydney on Saturday to discuss with us the next steps required for our transfer.”

Asia has four automatic spots and a possible fifth via a playoff for next year’s World Cup.

At present the Oceania winners, either Australia or the Solomon Islands, receive only half a place through a two-leg playoff against a team from South America.

FIFA backtracked on a pledge to give Oceania a full World Cup berth in 2003. Australia are the dominant force in the region but have only qualified for the World Cup finals once, in 1974.

Their plans to ditch Oceania and join the AFC have taken Oceania officials by surprise. The OFC’s executive committee will meet to discuss the issue in Noumea, New Caledonia on April 16.

Bin Hammam denied that Asia’s powers would be threatened by Australia’s entry into the AFC. “Japan and Saudi Arabia both have representatives on our executive committee and they all approved,” he said. “It was a unanimous decision.”

AFC General Secretary Peter Velappan had opposed Australia’s entry and cautioned that it was not yet confirmed. “After this, there are a lot of statutory procedures,” he said. “All these procedures will take time. In principal, Asia is happy to have them. We just await the time frame in order to realize Australia’s wish.”

Beckenbauer Says He

Wants UEFA Top Job

In Berlin, Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer said yesterday he was interested in becoming the next UEFA president and was ready for a “fair and clean election battle” with France’s candidate Michel Platini.

“The interest is there,” said Beckenbauer, 59, who led West Germany to World Cup victory as captain in 1974 and coach in 1990 but has remained coy until now about whether he would run to lead European soccer’s governing body.

“I’ve taken responsibility all my life and never worried about possibly failing,” he said in an interview with the German football association’s (DFB) website. “The presidency of such a successful organization as UEFA would be an appealing challenge.”

Beckenbauer said, however, he wanted to wait to make sure UEFA President Lennart Johansson would definitely retire before formally announcing his candidacy. Beckenbauer won unanimous backing last week from the DFB’s executive last week. “I’m in favor of going one step at a time,” Beckenbauer said. “Whether (Johansson) definitely steps down at the end of the current term is, as far as I know, not yet clear. I’d never run against Lennart. I admire him, and I’m a friend of his.”

Beckenbauer, leading Germany’s 2006 World Cup organizing committee, has long dropped hints that he wanted to succeed Johansson who has held office for 14 years and will be 76 by the time he completes his fourth term in 2006.

But it was not until after former France captain and manager Platini, 49, announced his candidacy last week that Beckenbauer, pressed by DFB chiefs, began raising his voice with increasing clarity.

“Everyone who wants to has the right to put themselves forward,” Beckenbauer said when asked about Platini’s candidacy. “Michel Platini was always a man with ambitions...We’ve met often and I greatly admire him.”

Beckenbauer praised Platini for helping Germany’s organizing committee with his know-how and experience and said he was not worried about a showdown against the Frenchman.

“If it does come to that, I’m sure it will be an absolutely fair and clean election battle,” Beckenbauer said. “But we don’t know yet if there will be other candidates. So let’s wait and see. We don’t need to rush into anything.”

Platini, in an interview with Germany’s Sport Bild magazine published on Tuesday, said he wanted to avoid a battle with Beckenbauer and thinks the German should have run a decade ago.