Asian soccer chiefs to mull boycott of 2002 World Cup

Asian soccer chiefs to mull boycott of 2002 World Cup

BANGKOK (Reuters): Asian soccer chiefs will decide on Tuesday whether to heed a call to boycott the 2002 World Cup in emergency talks on the region's representation in the finals.

Asian nations are furious at being given only four berths in the 32-team finals, which means only two actual qualifying spots since Japan and South Korea enjoy automatic entry as co-hosts of soccer's big event.

The angriest of the lot is Sheikh Ahmad al-Saber, who heads both the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Kuwait Football Federation. The sheikh has called for the 40-plus nations in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to boycott the tournament en bloc -- including the two future co-hosts.

"That would mean no World Cup in Asia," Sheikh Ahmad told Reuters at the OCA's Asian Games headquarters on Sunday.

"They are trying to take more from us than from any others. We have to fight for our rights."

He added: "The OCA will support the AFC 100 percent whatever they decide, even if they boycott the World Cup."

The future co-hosts, eager for their month in the spotlight even if they have to share it with each other, were quick to pour cold water on the idea of a boycott.

Japan Football Association Shunichiro Okano, a member of FIFA's World Cup 2002 organizing committee, told Reuters in Tokyo that the sheikh had no right to speak on behalf of the AFC.

"He is president of the Olympic Council of Asia, not president of the AFC," Okano told Reuters. "This kind of issue must be discussed first in the AFC."

China, a rising power in Asian soccer, said on Monday it was reserving its decision on a boycott.

But He Huixian, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Games said the present allocations were unfair.

"We've heard talk of a boycott, but our decision has not been finalized yet," she added.

The sheikh said the whole problem with qualifying places arose because of FIFA's "mistake" in jointly awarding the World Cup to both Japan and South Korea.

He said that decision was only made because FIFA bosses did not dare choose between the two rival bids when they considered them in 1996. The two countries spent hundreds of millions of dollars in a bitter bidding war.

At the 1998 World Cup in France, Asia had three guaranteed places and earned a fourth when Iran played Oceania winners Australia in a play-off.

Next time, the Oceanian qualifiers will play off against the fifth placed team from Latin America, Africa will keep five places, Central and North America will have three and Europe will have a total of 15 places.

Peter Velappan, general-secretary of the AFC, said last week that he thought Asia should get at least another half-place -- meaning that the Oceania winners would play off against an Asian team rather than one from Latin America.

Another idea to discuss, he said, was simply integrating the Oceania qualifying tournament into the Asian one to keep the full extra spot.