Associated Press

Kuala Lumpur, March 23:

Asian soccer chiefs on Wednesday approved Australia’s bid to move out of the Oceania soccer confederation and join its 45-nation Asian counterpart, pending approval by FIFA.

The Asian Football Confederation’s executive committee, at its one-day meeting, has “unanimously approved the wishes of Australia to join the AFC,” said AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam.

“It is beneficial for both Australia to join us in better competitions and for the AFC to have Australia with all its technical standards and capabilities,” he told reporters. Australia earlier this month declared its intention to quit the disparate, 11-member Oceania Football Confederation and join the AFC. The intention is to benefit from wider exposure and tougher matches in the Asian league, which could bring in higher revenues.

It will also give Australia a chance at direct qualification to future soccer World Cups. Presently, the top nation from Oceania qualification must play a home-and-away play off against the fifth-placed South American team to make the World Cup.

Hammam declined to say how long it might take for Australia to formally become a full member but indicated it might not be before next year.

Australia will still need to officially resign from Oceania, submit a membership application to the AFC and seek the approval of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, said AFC general secretary Peter Velappan. “The AFC will wholeheartedly accept Australia as a member but there are a lot of statutory procedures still to be followed,” he said.

Hammam refused to speculate on whether New Zealand might also seek to leave Oceania for Asia, saying the AFC would “talk about that whenever it happens.” Hammam also dismissed speculation that Asian soccer powers like Japan and Saudi Arabia might feel threatened by Australia’s participation, saying “the arrival of Australia is going to increase the image and standards of Asian soccer.” Oceania is the smallest of FIFA’s six confederations and the only one without a guaranteed direct entry to the World Cup.