26 Nov 2010

OFC seeking to regain voting right

5:59 am on 26 November 2010

The Oceania Football Confederation is seeking to regain its right to vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.

The hosts are set to be chosen by 22 rather than 24 voters after OFC chief Reynald Temarii - along with Nigeria's Amos Adamu - were suspended by Fifa.

But the OFC is set to ask Temarii to stand down, potentially clearing the way for a replacement to vote in Zurich on December 2nd.

Fifa said it had no information on an Oceania request to change its voter.

Temarri and Adamu were banned for a year and three years respectively after a newspaper undercover investigation alleged that they had asked for money in return for their vote.

The pair were cleared of corruption, but received bans and fines from Fifa's ethics committee for failing to report the approaches.

But the OFC executive body will gather in Auckland, New Zealand, to explore all its options, which could include sending acting president David Chung to Zurich next week in the hope he can act as a 23rd voting member on .

Fifa has previously said Temarii cannot be replaced while he is appealing against the suspension.

The 24th seat on FIFA's ruling panel will definitely remain empty next week.

England's quest to host the 2018 competition received a setback when South America's Conmebol federation pledged to give their three votes to the Spain and Portugal joint bid.

Russia and Netherlands-Belgium are the other countries competing to stage the 2018 event, while Australia, the United States, Qatar, Japan and South Korea are vying to host the 2022 finals.