Asian Olympic boss calls for World Cup boycott

Asian Olympic boss calls for World Cup boycott

BANGKOK (AFP): The head of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)
has called for an Asian boycott of the football World Cup if the
continent's representation at the 2002 finals is not increased.

Even though the finals are to be co-hosted by Japan and South
Korea, the OCA president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah said Asia
must fight for its rights.

The sheikh, one of the top six figures in world sport, made
his call in an interview with AFP ahead of an emergency meeting
of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Tuesday to discuss
FIFA's decision to award just four places to the continent at the
2002 finals -- but two automatically go to the co-hosts.

"I had a conversation with the AFC president Sultan Haji Ahmad
Shah and with the Arabic contingent and we are going towards a
boycott. Because if we accept what happened now it will happen
every time," he declared.

"We will boycott the World Cup qualification if we do not get
our rights," said the sheikh who is also president of the
Football Federation of Kuwait.

"I said two years ago that we don't have the soldiers to fight
for our interests and I was proved right. We have to be united to
get our rights, otherwise we will have to boycott."

FIFA's executive committee decided earlier this month to give
Asia only two places -- on top of those for Japan and South Korea
-- to be contested by the rest of the confederation's 43 members.

Attack

AFC general secretary Peter Velappan has already attacked the
decision saying "Asia is the loser here and it shows that FIFA
has no respect for Asia at all."

Asia had three guaranteed representatives at France '98. South
Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia qualified directly and Iran
defeated Australia in a playoff.

Velappan said Tuesday's emergency meeting would concentrate on
the end of the so-called three and half places formula. "The
president and the executive committee are very angry and
disappointed with this decision and we will be discussing what to
do next."

The sheikh said FIFA had been short-sighted in just taking
into account Asia's relatively weak results from this year's
finals.

"FIFA has to take into account that Asia is the second
economic power in the world, it has 45 percent of the sponsor
companies for the World Cup, and not to look just at the
technical results of the World Cup," he said.

He added that he would expect South Korea and Japan to support
any boycott vote.

"Our decision might cause some problems for the two host
countries but they will be the losers otherwise. The World Cup
will last only one month, but their future lies with the Asian
confederation," he warned.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter had been due to visit Bangkok last
week after touring South Korea and Japan to see the 2002
preparations. He called it off because of illness.

The AFC will come up with some form of action to show the
international governing body that it means business.

But on top of the tub-thumping from the sheikh and Velappan,
Asian soccer chiefs are already trying to figure out a compromise
to reduce the insult.