Soccer Australia welcomes FIFA proposals

Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley has welcomed Sepp Blatter’s pledge to reform the way World Cups are allocated.

Australia controversially lost out to Qatar in the race to stage the event in 2002 but, following his re-election as president yesterday, Blatter announced a new system of choosing World Cup hosts with all 208 FIFA nations voting instead of the 24-man executive committee.

Buckley told ABC Radio: “Well the language coming from the president and the rest of the FIFA executives was positive in that it would look to reform the decision-making process, particularly around the World Cup.

“And we’ve been on the record before as saying that that process is somewhat flawed and needs to be looked at.

“There’s a strong willingness for FIFA to look at the governance practices and that’s a good step in the right direction.”

Australia’s federal sports minister Mark Arbib has vowed to monitor goings-on at FIFA to ensure Blatter’s message of reform is carried out.

“He has said that he will take on reform in the organisation and he now must do that. President Blatter has a great deal of work to do. He and his organisation have to get on with it,” Arbib told ABC.

“Reform is necessary. What FIFA requires is action that took place in the IOC after Salt Lake City when the IOC cleaned up its game and that is exactly what FIFA now requires and of course the voting members of FIFA need to ensure that president Blatter is held to his word.

“He has said he’ll reform the organisation, it’s time for that to take place.”