Blatter Warns Africa Over W/Cup Slots

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter says African countries must improve if they want their World Cup slots to be increased.

Six countries represented Africa at last year’s World Cup because South Africa hosted the tournament.

But the continent’s places at the World Cup will revert to five for the 2014 finals in Brazil.

This has sparked calls by some African countries for the continent’s places to be increased in future events.

But the head of the world governing body says Africa will have to work hard to have the allocation of places increased.

“All of the FIFA member countries have equal voting rights, but when it comes to the World Cup, which is the only income of FIFA, our executive committee agrees that those confederations that have the best football should have more representatives,” Blatter said in Harare.

“There are no more small national teams, everyone can beat everyone, but it’s up to Africa to prove that they deserve more [World Cup places].”

“For the future it depends on the results of African teams in the World Cup.”

Africa’s performance in 2010, where of the continent’s contenders only Ghana made it out of the quarter-finals, is the farthest an African country has gone in the World Cup.

Cameroon and Senegal also reached the same stage in 1990 and 2002 respectively.

Fifa announced in March that there will be no change in the number of qualification slots allocated to each continent at the 2014 World Cup.

The decision means that Asia keeps 4.5 places, Oceania half a place, Africa five, Concacaf 3.5 and Europe 13.

South America remain with 4.5 while Brazil qualify automatically as hosts of the 32-team tournament, as South Africa did in 2010.

In another development, FIFA President Sepp Blatter says that anyone found guilty of match-fixing in the scandal that has shaken Zimbabwean football will be given life bans.

National team players including captain Method Mwanjali told a Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA inquiry that they were paid to lose games on a tour of Asia in 2009.

FIFA anti-corruption officials will visit Zimbabwe soon to meet with ZIFA officials and the police to conclude their enquiries into the case.

Blatter was speaking on a short visit to Harare as he travelled to Durban for an International Olympic Committee meeting.

“We cannot intervene at the first stage, we must let the jurisdictional organisation of the different states [take action] and when these people are condemned and found guilty then we will suspend them for life,” he said.

“Then they will never come back to football – being officials or being players, they will be banned for life.”

Testimonies given by players to the inquiry allege that ZIFA officials worked together with Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal to lose matches against Syria and Thailand.

A second inquiry looked at earlier tours made to Asia by Zimbabwe where they also lost to lower-ranked nations.