at Saturday's meeting in Paris

FIFA's Executive Committee has rejected a proposal to expand the 2006 World Cup finals to 36 teams, in so doing reversing an earlier decision to give Oceania an automatic place in the tournament.Related ItemsJohansson considers World Cup reformEuropean anger at World Cup decisionReduced allocationThe South American confederation CONMEBOL had proposed [url=http://www.racecabinet.com/Pages/Garage.html]cheap soccer jerseys[/url] the increase from the current 32 teams after its allocation was reduced by "half a slot" - a place in a playoff - to give Oceania an automatic finals place.Place returned However, at Saturday's meeting in Paris, FIFA agreed to return South America's half-place at the expense of Oceania, a decision that led to the Oceania delegation walking out of the meeting.Logistical problemsFIFA initially gave the CONMEBOL proposal a guarded welcome but, after a detailed investigation of the logistical problems of [url=http://www.chorale.qc.ca/review.asp]cheap hockey jerseys[/url] increasing the numbers, it was voted out by a majority of 22-1 - Oceania being the only dissenting voice, while FIFA President Sepp Blatter abstained.Holders forced to qualifyHowever, with South America having lost a further qualifying place for the 2006 tournament in Germany after FIFA ruled last year that the [url=http://www.horseshoecanada.ca/2012/jersey.php]Cheap hockey jerseys online[/url] defending champions, Brazil, would not get automatic qualification, FIFA officials reversed an earlier decision to further reduce their allocation.'Unanimous decision'"We have to find a solution to make them [CONMEBOL] happy again but in this case everybody was unanimous," UEFA President Lennart Johansson said, who went on to explain that playing standards were the decisive factor in the ruling body's decision.'Too early'"CONMEBOL also have a standard on the pitch," he said. "They lost the winner [Brazil] and then another half-place. If you make a mistake you must correct it; it was too early to give them [Oceania] direct entry to the World Cup but it doesn't mean we stay with this for the future."Play-off setbacksAustralia have been the dominant force in Oceania recently, but have failed to reach the finals after losing play-offs to Argentina, Uruguay, [url=http://www.bancroftstatebank.com/privacy.html]cheap nfl jerseys china[/url] Scotland and Iran.'Fundamental factor'Julio Grondona, head of the Argentinian federation and a FIFA vice-president, thanked the UEFA representatives for their backing. "I have to thank Lennart Johansson because he was a fundamental factor in this decision," he said. "He and [UEFA chief executive] Gerhard Aigner understood us and backed us. Without that it would not have been possible to once again have the four and half places." 'Very happy'Colombian member Oscar Astudillo was also delighted, saying: "South America has recovered what belonged to it and was taken away in December. We now have 4.5 places and that is as it should be. I am very happy we have got back what was ours."
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