By Andrew Warshaw
November 29 – Oceania, by far the weakest confederation in world football and predominantly made up of tiny island nations, wants to give itself a better chance of World Cup qualification by combining its playoff pathway with that of the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC is currently allocated four automatic qualifying slots, with the fifth-placed Asian team going into an intercontinental playoff. Oceania, by contrast, has no direct route to the finals, with one single playoff berth for its regional champion.
Both confederations last week suffered heavy defeats in trying to reach the 2014 World Cup with New Zealand thrashed 9-3 by Mexico over two legs and Jordan beaten 5-0 on aggregate by Uruguay.
As a result, New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum (pictured) said it was time Oceania’s champion in future joined the AFC structure.
“We certainly see merit in the winner of the Oceania section of qualifying joining the Asian Confederation playoff structure in some way,” he said.
“This is an Oceania Football-led initiative with (OFC president) David Chung and (general secretary) Tai Nicholas heading discussions and we are supportive of their good work.”
Critics of any plan to somehow link up with the AFC could point to New Zealand reaching the World Cup finals in 2010 and exiting the competition after the first round without losing a game.
But van Hattum said: “We see that a pathway through Asia would be good for the Oceania winner as it could open up a high quality match schedule while also being a better fit for nations in both confederations in terms of the geography and logistics of any playoff structure leading to a World Cup place.”
AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa told reporters earlier this week they were open to incorporating the half slot from the OFC in some shape or form.
Van Hattum said his federation had been involved in such talks for several years. New Zealand took over the mantle as Oceania heavyweights as soon as Australia secured a switch to the AFC in 2006 to boost its own opportunities.
Since the move, New Zealand have struggled to play meaningful high-level games.
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