Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has called for Mikel to declare his readiness to feature for the team.

Mikel has yet to play for the Super Eagles since Keshi took charge of the side in November, but the coach insisted that the Chelsea ace remains very much part of his plans.

"Mikel is in my plans but we will give other players an opportunity as well," said Keshi on Thursday.

"We need to give players from the local league a chance. After all, how many knew about such players as Uche Kalu, Ejike Uzoenyi or Godfrey Oboabona before now?"

Austin Ejide, Fengor Ogude, Efe Ambrose, Elderson Echiejile and John Utaka have all been recalled in a group of 11 players based overseas, which also features Wigan Athletic forward Victor Moses.

Nigeria will name another squad of 18 players from the domestic league, who are due to fly out this weekend for a friendly in Peru.

The Super Eagles will host Namibia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier on June 3 in Calabar, before travelling to Malawi as the qualifying series continues the following weekend.

Nigeria is also due to host Rwanda in a second-leg qualifier for the 2013 Nations Cup to be hosted by South Africa.

Overseas-based players called up by Nigeria

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Lille/FRA), Austin Ejide (Petach Tikva/ISR)

Defenders: Joseph Yobo (Fenerbache/TUR), Efe Ambrose (Ashdod/ISR), Elderson Echiejile (Sporting Braga/POR)

Midfielders: Fengor Ogude (Valrenga/NOR)

Forwards: Ike Uche (Granada/ESP), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow/RUS), Sone Aluko (Rangers/SCO), John Utaka (Montpellier/FRA), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic/ENG)

The meeting in Zurich on May 8 will bring Rebelo together with FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke who caused outrage in Brazil earlier this year with comments on the South American country's preparations for the World Cup.

Joseph Blatter, president of football's governing body, will open the meeting.

Valcke caused anger in Brazil in March when he said the authorities in the country might need "a kick up the backside" to speed up World Cup preparations.

As a result of the comments, Rebelo wrote to FIFA saying that Valcke would no longer be accepted as a partner in any dialogue.

Valcke and Blatter apologised for the incident. Brazil accepted the apologies but made it clear it would prefer a different interlocutor.

Next week's meeting is described by FIFA as a "working session" and "will encompass the latest status of preparations as well as the agenda for the next 24 months".

Rebelo will be accompanied by the sports ministry's executive secretary Luis Fernandes and its office chief Luiz Paulino, FIFA said.

The local organising committee will be represented by chairman Jose Maria Marin and two members of the management board, former internationals Ronaldo and Bebeto.

Valcke, deputy secretary general Markus Kattner and the respective directors of the departments of competition, communication and public affairs and legal will participate in the meeting for FIFA. Also present will be FIFA's Brazilian executive committee member Marco Polo Del Nero.

Blatter, addressing the UEFA Congress in Istanbul, said FIFA's decision to use an "early warning system", which monitors suspicious betting patterns and brings in the international police force Interpol, was paying off but the problem was growing.

He also alluded to Turkey being affected by match rigging – Fenerbahce was banned from the Champions League by UEFA this season due to match fixing.

Blatter said: "There is something that is new and also concerns the region where we are and that is illegal betting and this leads to match rigging.

"Together with UEFA and the other confederations we have been working for one year very closely with Interpol [on the early warning system].

"We are working together against the scourge of match rigging which is undermining our sport.

"FIFA, UEFA and all the other confederations are not responsible for all the evils besetting our world but we must see to it that we stay alert."

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Erdogan addressed the issue in his address to the Congress but said individuals and not clubs should be punished.

Blatter also announced FIFA will insure all players involved in international matches on official dates from the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign in September.

He said: "You have to have the best interests of the players and we will have the pleasure of announcing at the next executive committee that from this year we will have total insurance coverage for all matches on the international match calendar.

"This is an insurance coverage for the players, for the clubs and for the associations."

A public war of words brought uncertainty over the country's preparations, but after apologies from FIFA and the approval of a key bill by the Brazilian government, both sides are moving forward.

With two years to go until the World Cup and just more than a year before the Confederations Cup, infrastructure work remains a concern and there are problems with stadium construction in some cities.

FIFA inspectors are in the country for a key visit to host cities, checking on progress and working closely with local governments. The team of nearly 40 people from FIFA and the local organising committee were in the southern city of Curitiba on Thursday.

Things looked bleak only a few days ago, with queries whether Brazil would be able to host the tournament.

It all started after FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke sent a blunt message to Brazil on Friday about preparations: "You have to push yourself, kick your (backside)."

Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo reacted quickly, saying the comments were "unacceptable, offensive and inappropriate" and telling FIFA that the government would not deal with Valcke anymore.

Valcke apologised on Monday, as did FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Tuesday.

The Brazilian government is still deciding whether it will change its position regarding Valcke, but it is satisfied that FIFA backed down.

A congressional commission on the same day of Blatter's apology approved a key bill about organising the World Cup, accepting several demands by FIFA and giving it financial and legal guarantees in controlling the event.

The bill still has to go through both chambers of Congress before reaching President Dilma Rousseff. But it was a big victory for FIFA and the government, which was under pressure from local critics who say football's world governing body has been granted too much power.

Valcke's comments infuriated many Brazilians, but there were those who didn't think he was too far off. Former player Ronaldo, a member of the local organising committee, agreed with him that the preparations are running late. Romario, another former star turned congressman, concurred.

"It was unfortunate but it doesn't mean he was wrong," Ronaldo said.

"Brazil promised to deliver the World Cup bill, promised to deliver the infrastructure projects, but there is still a lot that hasn't been done."

Valcke also said "things are not working in Brazil" and "not a lot is moving" with stadium building and infrastructure renovation.

FIFA inspectors saw some of the problems close up on Wednesday when they visited Beira-Rio stadium, which is expected to host five World Cup matches.

The inspectors found an empty construction site at the venue in southern Brazil because a lack of financial guarantees to renovate the stadium halted work eight months ago.

Local officials told FIFA the problem is expected to be solved by next week, but if the indecision continues for much longer, Porto Alegre may have to rush to find a new venue to avoid being dropped as a host city.

"We have total confidence that the stadium will be delivered on schedule on December 31, 2013," said Ricardo Trade, an executive director at the local organising committee.

"Porto Alegre is at the same stage as other cities."

The Brazilian government guarantees that construction in most stadiums is on track, but acknowledges there are delays in Cuiaba and the jungle city of Manaus, where only 38 per cent of the work has been completed so far.

Rebelo also said more than 40 of the 51 infrastructure projects planned for the World Cup in the 12 host cities will be completed in 2013, but it's clear many won't be ready in time for the Confederations Cup.

"The minister is already being more pro-active in his management of the work needed for the World Cup," said Jose Roberto Bernasconi, president of a Brazilian association of architectural and consulting engineering companies.

"It seems he is fully dedicating himself to making sure the local governments pick up the pace where needed.

"Some projects are not being conducted at the most adequate pace. Some will be ready in time but some won't."

It remains unclear if the northeastern cities of Recife and Salvador will be ready in time to host the Confederations Cup. FIFA will make a decision in June on whether they'll join Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza for the tournament.

The FIFA inspectors are making comprehensive visits to six host cities this week, checking on areas dealing with traffic, security, fan management, commercial partners, marketing, hospitality and media.

Last year, the inspection team visited the other six cities. The FIFA team travels to Cuiaba on Friday, Manaus on Saturday and Natal on Monday.

"We should and must work together," Blatter said in his letter apologising to Brazil on Tuesday.

"We have the common goal to organise an extraordinary World Cup in the land of football."

Lack of financial guarantees to renovate Beira-Rio halted work at the site eight months ago, and if the deadlock continues for much longer, the southern city of Porto Alegre may struggle to find a new venue with only two years left before football's showcase event.

The construction company involved in the project said on Friday it believes it has found a solution to get the renovation work back on track, but it remains unclear when the plan will be put into practice.

If a contract is not signed soon between club Internacional and the Andrade Gutierrez company, FIFA and local organisers will have to quickly find an alternative to keep Porto Alegre as a tournament host.

Internacional rival Gremio is building a new arena in the city and it should be ready in time for the World Cup, but the venue would have to go through FIFA's entire approval process from the start before being allowed to host matches.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff reportedly intervened to try to help on a deal to keep the Beira-Rio as a host, and Rio Grande do Sul state Governor Tarso Genro also got involved in the negotiations.

The problem comes just as FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said that he has serious concerns about Brazil's World Cup preparations and that the country appears more concerned about winning the 2014 tournament than preparing for it.

He said "the big issue we have in Brazil is that not a lot is moving" and that he doesn't understand why "the stadiums are not any more on schedule."

A team of nearly 40 people from FIFA and the local organising committee will visit six of the 12 host cities next week, including Porto Alegre, which will be inspected on Wednesday. Last year, the inspection team visited the six cities which will likely host Confederations Cup matches in 2013.

Internacional started renovating the stadium by itself, and in 2010 it reached a partnership with Andrade Gutierrez to have the project completed. The work stopped during the negotiations, and it will only restart after the partners give the required financial guarantees.

Andrade Gutierrez said the financial guarantees have not been completely secured yet, but the company said in its statement on Friday that it had already "identified the adequate financial mechanisms" to get needed funds.

It said it will soon release the date when the contract with Internacional will be signed to "assure the work will be executed in time for the stadium to host the 2014 World Cup matches."

The Morumbi Stadium, one of Brazil's most traditional, was dropped from the tournament in 2010 because FIFA said there were not enough financial guarantees for its renovation project. A new stadium is being built in the city to host the competition's opening match in June 2014.

Internacional is one of Brazil's most successful clubs. It has three national titles and won the Copa Libertadores twice. It defeated Barcelona to win FIFA's Club World Cup in 2006.

Local organisers said the FIFA inspections next week will cover a variety of areas, including the infrastructure outside the venues.

"These inspections are aimed at analysing and adapting the operational planning of the stadiums, which are extremely complex," said local committee operational manager Tiago Paes.

He said the visit will cover areas dealing with traffic, security, fan management, commercial partners, marketing, hospitality, and setups for media.

FIFA's secretary-general, Jerome Valcke, even suggested organisers needed a "kick up the arse", even though there was no question of Brazil being stripped of the event.

"I don't understand why things are not moving. The stadiums are not on schedule any more and why are a lot of things late?" Valcke said on Friday.

"In 2014 we will have a World Cup. The concern is nothing is made or prepared to receive so many people because the world wants to go to Brazil.

"I am sorry to say but things are not working in Brazil. You expect more support - there are these endless discussions about the World Cup bill.

"We should have received these documents signed by 2007 and we are in 2012.

"You have to push yourself, kick your arse and just deliver this World Cup and that is what we will do."

He added: "You don't have enough hotels everywhere. You have more than enough in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but if you think about Manaus, you need more."

Valcke also suggested the priority in Brazil was to win the tournament rather than organise a good World Cup.

Bebeto, who helped Brazil win the 1994 World Cup, is the final member appointed to the committee's administrative council, which also includes Brazilian federation president Ricardo Teixeira.

"Ronaldo and Bebeto did a lot for the national team on the field," Teixeira said Thursday in a statement. "Now they will work together to make sure the World Cup in Brazil is a success."

Teixeira is also the president of the local organising committee.

"It's as if I had scored my first goal or was summoned to the national team for the first time," Bebeto said. "I will give my best effort to help make the World Cup the best ever."

Bebeto and Ronaldo were invited to the administrative council to help spearhead the nation's preparations for football's showcase competition two years from now, as well as for the Confederations Cup in 2013. They will help deal with most matters related to the organisation of the events.

Ronaldo, who was appointed in December, played with Bebeto in the 1998 World Cup.

"Now we have a duo of strikers again," Ronaldo said. "We will do everything we can to make sure this partnership is one of the greatest of our careers."

The 48-year-old Bebeto, now a state deputy in Rio de Janeiro, was a key player when Brazil won the 1994 World Cup, partnering with Romario on attack. He also started in the 1998 tournament, when the national team lost the final to host France. He was a reserve in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when Brazil lost to Argentina in the round of 16.

Bebeto scored 43 goals in 81 matches with Brazil.

He thrived with Deportivo La Coruna from 1992-96 in Spain. He played for several top clubs in Brazil, including Flamengo and Vasco da Gama. He also played briefly for Sevilla in Spain and Kashima Antlers in Japan, as well as for Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad.

After media reports cast doubt over the validity of some of the South Africa team's results in the build-up to the first World Cup in Africa, SAFA says a FIFA team will travel to the country 'at the earliest possible opportunity' to look at the claims.

SAFA said the agreement came on Tuesday after discussions between SAFA and FIFA.

SAFA did not say which games would be probed but suspicions were raised last year over South Africa's 2-1 win over Colombia and 5-0 win over Guatemala.

Both were played in May 2010, the month before the World Cup kicked off.

UEFA supremo Platini, widely regarded as the heir apparent to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, told Britain's The Daily Telegraph he plans to push for the tournament to be moved from its traditional slot in June and July.

Any move to reschedule the World Cup is likely to meet with strong resistance from top leagues across Europe, which have estimated will bring scheduling problems for three years leading into the tournament.

Platini remains adamant that the tournament in Qatar can be slotted into a mid-winter date with a minimum of disruption.

"The World Cup is the most important moment for the game every four years but where does it say we always have to play in June? I don't see the problem of playing in December," Platini told The Telegraph.

"What is the problem for the Premier League to finish at the end of May instead of the beginning, and recuperate the time in December? We have to put the World Cup and the fans first."

He was responding to criticism from FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke about delays in securing congressional approval of a bill on the World Cup.

FIFA has also expressed concern about the current ban on beer sales in Brazilian stadiums and complained that construction or renovation of some of the World Cup arenas, notably the stadium in Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte, is running behind schedule.

Brazil "has the market, organisation and tradition required to make the World Cup a success and there is no need for confrontation or conflict with the organiser," Rebelo told the Sport TV channel.

"FIFA has legitimate interests and we respect them," he added, agreeing with Valcke on the need for Congress to quickly approve the World Cup bill.

"Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we're going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that's something we won't negotiate," Valcke said at the end of a visit to Brazil Thursday to meet with the local organising committee.

He added that FIFA had repeatedly made it clear that it wanted authorisation for beer sales in the stadiums, and had stressed that Brazil was warned of that when it was chosen to host the 2014 World Cup.

FIFA has an agreement with its sponsor, the US-based Anheuser Busch brand Budweiser, and prohibiting beer sales would cut into the football organisation's revenues from the games.

Sale of alcoholic beverages in sports arenas has been banned in Brazil since 2003, but a bill now making its way through Congress would create an exception, allowing beer to be sold in plastic cups at World Cup matches.

Rebelo reiterated the bill must be passed in March, voicing confidence that Congress would find the necessary compromise on the beer issue.

And despite the delay regarding the Natal stadium, the minister insisted the work would be completed before the end of December 2013, the deadline set by FIFA.

"I'm satisfied with this agreement which will allow us to continue working together," said Susic, who has coached the team since 2009.

"I know we have a good team. I know the players very well and I believe that this squad will have more chances with me then with someone else."

Susic said that Bosnia's 6-2 loss in the second leg of their Euro 2012 play-off against Portugal in November had only reinforced his determination.

Financial details of the contract were not revealed.

Bosnia has never participated in final phases of the European championships or the World Cup.

Susic, 56, spent a decade as a midfielder in France with Paris Saint-Germain - where he is considered one of their greatest ever players - and later coached a number of teams in Turkey from 1996 and 2008.

Zurich business weekly Handelszeitung published a letter overnight from canton (state) Zug court saying the Swiss court document naming the officials can be released, although the ruling is open to appeal within 30 days.

The document details a settlement in June 2010 in the 10-year-old scandal over alleged payments made by the ISL marketing agency before its 2001 collapse with debts of $295 million.

It reportedly implicates former FIFA President Joao Havelange and Ricardo Teixeira, the Brazil 2014 World Cup organising committee president.

In a little over two years Brazil will host the football extravaganza but Romario - now a politician with Brazil's Socialist Party - believes it has little chance of realistically aiming for a sixth triumph.

"If Brazil keep on playing the football they're playing right now, they risk not getting past the first round," Romario was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of O Globo.

Brazil is currently in a race against time, and under pressure from football's world governing body FIFA, to have stadia and infrastructure ready in time for the tournament.

Romario, a controversial figure on and off the park when he played as a striker for Brazil and a number of top clubs in Europe and South America, has been critical of both the World Cup organisers and of FIFA.

"FIFA has been trying to override our sovereignty, they want to tell us how to run the country. There are still deputies who think as I do," added Romario.

At the beginning of November, FIFA warned Brazil to speed up its preparations to host the World Cup and reluctantly accepted to issue half-price tickets for students and those over 60 years of age.

Brazil's Sports Minister, Aldo Rebelo, vowed earlier this month that the 12 stadiums designated to host matches at the tournament would be ready "ahead of schedule".

The European champion faces Qatar's Al Sadd for a place in the intercontinental final, where it will face Brazil's Santos or home side Kashiwa Reysol.

Nobody is giving Al Sadd, who was crowned kings of Asia last month, a chance against a Barca side that stormed back to the top of La Liga with last weekend's hugely impressive 3-1 away victory over Jose Mourinho's Real.

But if there is a chink in the armour, it might be fatigue and jet lag.

They flew out to Japan only hours after seeing off Mourinho's men, then endured a 13-hour flight, before touching down on Sunday night - just four days before the semi-final in Yokohama, near Tokyo.

"It's tough," coach Pep Guardiola said of the tight schedule and the eight-hour time difference between Japan and Spain.

"It's something I experienced myself as a player and it was very difficult getting used to being in a different time zone, over and above the fatigue from a long flight.

"Two years ago we only had to go to Abu Dhabi, which is just a few hours ahead (of Spain), whereas here the difference is much greater.

"Ideally we'd come here in plenty of time, a week or 10 days ahead, but unfortunately our fixture list is very full and the gaps between competitions are very short, so we'll just have to make the best of it."

However Guardiola, whose three-and-a-half years at the helm has seen him capture every trophy going, told FIFA.com: "But don't think that I'm complaining.

"It's a privilege to be here, an honour to be representing Europe and we're incredibly excited about the chance to try and win this tournament."

Nobody is giving Al Sadd, who was underdog when it beat Jeonbuk Motors in the AFC Champions League final in November on penalties, a chance.

But the experienced coach, the Uruguayan Jorge Fossati, refused to accept the clash was a foregone conclusion against a side boasting the likes of Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi.

"If we can have 15 or 16 players on the pitch we will have a good chance," Fossati said jokingly, when asked by AFP how his side could possibly beat the mighty Barca.

"One sports manufacturer says 'impossible is nothing', and I want to believe that. Of course Barcelona are the best in the world, which we recognise, especially after the match against Real Madrid.

"But recently Getafe in Spain won against Barcelona (1-0). It sounds illogical and impossible. This is key. But as long as we are humble and maintain a strong spirit, we think it can happen."

Fossati, a former Qatar and Uruguay coach, said his unfancied side, who are taking part in the world club championship for the first time, had already made history.

"To play the best team in the world does not happen every day," he said. "We will try to enjoy this opportunity. For me, to play them in this game, is something very special that firstly you must enjoy."

Al Sadd set up the glamour tie after hitting the African champions Esperance on the break in their quarter-final, beating the Tunisian side 2-1 despite having only four shots on goal all game.

Ramon Tribulietx was speaking after his team of part-timers, who enjoyed two stunning wins at the intercontinental tournament two years ago, were floored 2-0 by Japanese champion Kashiwa Reysol late on Thursday.

Auckland, a side of workers, students and even a former backpacker, were on the back foot during the first period at Japan's Toyota stadium and conceded twice before half-time, ending its participation in the competition.

"What we definitely need is to have a professional league in New Zealand," a disappointed Tribulietx said.

"That's for sure you know because we need to get more games.

"Unfortunately, we only get to play 14 games a year in the national league plus I consider we are lucky to be playing in the Oceania champions league, that gives us more games.

"But the amount of games is probably not good enough.

"We definitely need to go one step up in New Zealand and probably the way to go is by playing more games and playing more professional, that would probably be the best way and the path to follow from now.

"I hope one day that happens."

It was not all bad news for the New Zealand outfit, who enjoyed far the better of the play in the second-half, only to be denied by home goalkeeper Takanori Sugeno on at least two occasions.

Auckland skipper Ivan Vicelich said football was on the up in rugby-mad New Zealand after the All Whites' eye-catching showing at last year's World Cup, where they were undefeated in their three group games.

"There's a buzz about football in New Zealand, kids are loving the game at the moment, and the more exposure we can give it, the better," Vicelich said.

"What we achieved in 2009 (at the Club World Cup) and the national team managed last year has taken the game to a new level back home, and the challenge for everyone is to keep that going."

National stalwart Vicelich knows very well the benefits of playing fulltime - he spent seven years as a professional in the Netherlands.

"We have the (Wellington) Phoenix playing in the (Australian) A-League, and that's another pathway for our country's youngsters," the 35-year-old told FIFA.com.

"Possibly having more New Zealand teams in the A-League is the way to go, although ideally we would love a fully professional league of our own. Either way, we need to keep pushing on.

"Making an impact here in Japan would have helped and we're disappointed that hasn't happened."

At the 2009 Club World Cup, Auckland beat UAE champion Al Ahli and later shocked African title-holder TP Mazembe 3-2 in the play-off for fifth place.

However a fine imposed over the violence wrought by the Asian state's supporters stays.

A 2014 World Cup qualifier between Myanmar and Oman in July was abandoned after home fans in the Yangon stadium pelted the pitch with rocks, shoes and water bottles.

FIFA confirmed the score at the time of interruption of the game at 2-0 for Oman, who had won the first leg of the game at the same score.

Beyond the 2014 World Cup, FIFA had also banned Myanmar from the following World Cup, and imposed a fine of $A27,400 on the team.

But on Monday, FIFA said it "decided that the appeal lodged by the Myanmar Football Federation be partially upheld."

"The exclusion of the Myanmar Football Federation from taking part in the matches of the preliminary competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was annulled, and the Myanmar Football Federation will therefore be reintegrated into the preliminary competition," it added.

Myanmar would now have to play all its home matches of the 2018 qualifiers on neutral ground.

Germany will also be a contender if the squad that impressed at the 2010 World Cup continues to develop, Pele told Germany's Kicker sports magazine on Thursday.

Pele said Brazil's national team had been affected by several changes of coaches over the past few years.

"One cannot form a successful team this way. The many changes of players has not helped either," Pele said.

"But there can be no doubt: Brazil will be very strong in 2014 if they play with their best team."

Pele said Kaka had been missed by Brazil because of his long injury lay-offs but hoped the Real Madrid midfielder would be back to his best by 2014.

However for a star player like Ronaldinho it would now be difficult to displace youngsters such as Neymar and Ganso.

Pele also praised two-time world footballer of the year Lionel Messi, saying the Argentinian was "absolutely the best," while indicating the Barcelona striker had not been playing the game long enough to be compared yet with other former greats.

"Just look at how long a (Franz) Beckenbauer, a (Michel) Platini, a (Bobby) Charlton or a Gerd Mueller played: 10 years, 15 years. That's something the young ones first have to emulate," he said.

Brazilian law states that people aged over 65 are entitled to half-price tickets but FIFA had initially refused to follow the policy, sparking anger in Brazilian political circles, before relenting.

However, Jerome Valcke, secretary general of world football's governing body, said in an interview published in the most recent edition of newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo that half-price tickets could not be made available to other specific groups, such as "blood donors, students or former players".

FIFA and the Brazilian government are at loggerheads over the sale of cheap tickets to students, in line with Brazilian law, and over the sale of alcohol in stadia, with Valcke insisting cheaper tickets across the board is a more viable option.

"We must work at ways of making tickets available at preferential prices for all Brazilians who cannot afford to pay large sums," Valcke said.

"That seems fairer to me than only taking into account certain sections of the population."

FIFA hope to reach agreement on the matter before president Sepp Blatter meets Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff next month.

Valcke also said he believes the Brazilian government is worried by the corruption accusations against the country's sports minister Orlando Silva, who has denied embezzling millions of dollars of public funds.

The secretary general also spoke out about fears in FIFA circles that stadia designated to host matches at the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup will not be ready in time.

"There is a real worry regarding the Confederations Cup, but the World Cup is not such a big fear," he said.

"Some venues will be finished late, but will still be ready in time for the opening match of the World Cup.

"The Maracana is one of the biggest challenges, as there is still a lot of work to do."

The opening game takes place on June 12, with the final on July 13.

Meanwhile, the semi-finals will be held in Belo Horizonte on July 8 and Sao Paulo on the ninth, with Brasilia staging the third-place play-off on July 12.

FIFA has constantly expressed its concerns over progress being made at the country's 12 World Cup venues, but Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has insisted since the middle of August that work is on schedule.

The choice of the mythical Maracana to stage the final was not a great surprise, but the Rio venue has endured its share of setbacks, the most recent of which was a 19-day strike by workmen.

They were protesting over wage levels, working conditions as well as health benefits.

Officials had been hoping for a quick return to work as September 16 marked the 1000-day countdown to the start of the tournament.

The cost of modernising the Maracana has been estimated at $US660 million ($A647 million).

In mid-September, the Brazilian government made assurances that the arenas in all 12 host cities were on schedule in construction or renovation and would be ready by December next year.

But the government also admitted that work had not started in five of 13 airports which will welcome millions of tourists and fans.

Brazil also needs to spend more than $US11.4 billion to improve roads, boost security and the country's telecommunications infrastructure, according to a study by the Getulio Vargas foundation and Ernst & Young consultants.

In all, the Maracana will stage four group matches, a last 16 tie, one quarter-final as well as the final itself.

Sao Paulo will stage the opening match, three other group games, one round of 16 tie as well as a semi-final.

Capital Brasilia gets four group games, one last 16 match and the third-place play-off.

In Belo Horizonte there will be four group matches, one last 16 encounter and the second semi-final.

Salvador has been handed four group games, a last 16 game and one quarter-final while Fortalezza has four group matches, one last 16 and a quarter-final.

Porto Alegre was awarded four group games, a last 16 date and the fourth quarter-final.

Recife has four group games and a last 16 encounter.

The cities of Cuiaba, Curitiba, Manaus and Natal all have four group games each.

Australia looks sure to progress after a 3-0 home win over Oman kept it on maximum points in Group D, and South Korea moved towards the last stage with a 2-1 win against UAE.

Thailand held Frank Rijkaard's Saudi Arabia to a 0-0 draw, but North Korea's hopes of reaching a second World Cup in a row suffered a setback with a 1-0 home loss to Uzbekistan.

Iraq edged a tense clash with China 1-0 and there were also wins for Jordan and Qatar as 10 games swung into action across the region.

Rampant Japan was the big winner as it notched up four goals in each half against Tajikistan in Osaka, led by Mike Havenaar and Shinji Okazaki who both bagged a brace.

"This victory gives us a very good feeling. I knew hopes among fans were high. The players responded with their good performance today," said coach Alberto Zaccheroni.

South Korea had a second-half own goal to thank as UAE defender Ismail Hamdan's inadvertent strike helped it to a 2-1 win in Suwon. Arsenal's Park Chu-Young had opened the scoring and UAE pulled one back in second-half injury time.

An own goal also played a part in the other match in the group as Lebanon twice led - thanks to a brace by Hassan Maatouk - only for Mahmoud Younes to put into his own net in the 88th minute to allow Kuwait to steal a 2-2 draw.

Lebanon, though, can still entertain hopes of taking second as it has bounced back impressively after a humiliating 6-0 opening match walloping by South Korea going on to beat the hapless UAE 3-1 in its previous match.

In Sydney, Brett Holman, Josh Kennedy and Mile Jedinak were all on the scoresheet as Australia registered its third win out of three and look certain to progress.

"The target was to win and to win well," said captain Lucas Neill. "Now we've got one foot in the next round but we've still got a lot of work to do."

In Pyongyang, Alexander Geynrikh's first-half strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win for Uzbekistan, who is level on seven points with Japan at the top of Group C.

North Korea, who lashed out against its low FIFA ranking after being drawn in a tough group for the third round, would have targeted the Uzbek clash in Pyongyang as a must-win as it scraps for the second qualifying spot.

The North Koreans competed at their first World Cup since 1966 last year, but they disappointed at the Asian Cup in January after being bracketed with holder Iraq and three-time winner Iran in another unkind draw.

Jordan took a big step towards its first berth in the final qualifying stage with a 3-0 away win over Singapore, while Qatar came out on top of a 3-2 slug-fest against Indonesia in Jakarta.

China's ex-Real Madrid coach Jose Antonio Camacho admitted the defeat to Iraq, who played 25 minutes with 10 men, had put its qualification hopes in jeopardy.

"It's going to be difficult to qualify from here but it's not impossible. We will try harder in the next game to see what we can do," he said.

Rijkaard, who was hired for Saudi Arabia's World Cup campaign, may also come under pressure after failing to win any of the first three games.

"The Saudi team still have a chance because we will play Thailand on our home soil as Oman lost to Australia," insisted the former Barcelona boss.

Meanwhile in Tehran, security was ramped up at Iran's Azadi Stadium following political tensions with Group E rival and Gulf neighbour Bahrain over Manama's tough clampdown on Shiite dissidents.

However, the game was virtually over as a contest inside the first minute as the visitor had Rashed Al Hooti sent off and the host then cruised to a 6-0 thrashing of its rival.

The winner and runner-up of the five groups will be drawn into two pools for the round-robin fourth stage, with the eventual top two in each section earning a ticket to the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

The two third-placed teams will then face each other for the right to contest an intercontinental play-off.

Kennedy was on the spot to ram home Australia's second goal from close range after keeper Ali Al Habsi had parried Luke Wilkshire's shot.

The spearhead is enjoying the most productive spell of his Socceroo career; it is raining goals for Kennedy, with no sign of a dry spell in sight.

The convincing victory before 24,372 people at Sydney's Olympic stadium on Tuesday night made it a perfect three wins from three matches in Australia's initial qualifying group.

Even at the halfway stage, it all but guarantees the Socceroos a spot in the final Asian qualifying round.

Australia got off to a dream start when Brett Holman side-footed home a square ball from Matt McKay.

A deft half-volley from midfielder Mile Jedinak five minutes from time, off Wilkshire's free kick, was the final nail in Oman's coffin.

Goalkeeper Adam Federici, deputising for the injured Mark Schwarzer, did his future prospects no harm with a solid display which included an acrobatic save from Ahmed Al Mahaijiri's stinging free kick.

It was one of Oman's few serious attempts on goal, and Holger Osieck's side will be confident of confirming its passage in the return leg in Oman next month.

Annual accounts show the FA spent STG14 million ($A22.07 million), with the bidding cities providing STG2.5 million ($A3.94 million) and the remaining STG4.5 million ($A7.09 million) coming from sponsors.

England won just two of the 22 votes cast by FIFA members in the first round of voting last December.

Russia was selected as the host country for the tournament.

Overall, the FA returned a profit after tax of STG9 million ($A14.19 million) compared to a loss of STG3 million ($A4.73 million) in 2009, enabling the organisation "to increase its reserves for the first time since 2006".

After a flawless start to qualifying with wins over Thailand and Saudi Arabia, another three points would all but assure Holger Osieck's side's progress to the final stage of qualifying starting in June.

Taking maximum points from its first three games means only a meltdown of the highest order could prevent Australia achieving a top-two finish in the four-team group, with three games still to play.

Not that Osieck or Socceroos captain Lucas Neill are counting their chickens against an Oman side that has proved stiff opposition in three previous meetings and one sure to be desperate after managing only a point from its opening two games.

"We're not through to the next round until it's mathematically done," Neill said on Monday.

"We all know that a win would be an important win, but we all respect and follow the theory that no games are easy and we shouldn't think we've won before we've won.

"That's all we're going to concentrate on and it starts from minute one not minute 90."

Osieck, too, was not willing to look beyond Tuesday's clash, despite knowing another win could allow him some breathing space and flexibility with squad selections for the coming matches.

"First we have to win and it's going to be a very, very tough one and we have to really put a lot of effort into it to make it happen," Osieck said.

"Therefore let's put all our concentration into that and after we see and go from there."

The three previous matches between Australia and Oman have never been decided by more than a goal, with the Socceroos securing two wins in qualifiers in 2009 and salvaging a last-gasp draw 1-1 at the 2007 Asian Cup in Thailand.

Osieck insists his side took plenty away from a 5-0 friendly win over Malaysia in Canberra on Friday night, despite suggestions the Asian minnows offered little as warm-up opponents before meeting a much stronger Oman.

The German coach is expected to keep faith with most of the starting line-up from the Malaysia game, with Mile Jedinak likely to come in for Neil Kilkenny in central midfield and a rested Brett Holman starting in place of Alex Brosque.

However Osieck admitted the two-goal performance of former Sydney FC striker Brosque against Malaysia had given him plenty of food for thought.

"He definitely has become a serious option for our team," Osieck said of the Shimzu S-Pulse striker.

Luke Wilkshire will likely start again in midfield, with Rhys Williams at right back, while in-form Josh Kennedy will lead the line having scored seven goals in his last four international matches.

Likely Socceroos team: Adam Federici (gk), Michael Zullo, Lucas Neill (capt), Sasa Ognenovski, Rhys Williams, Mile Jedinak, Carl Valeri, Luke Wilkshire, Matt McKay, Brett Holman, Josh Kennedy.

Thieves made off with some gold necklaces and clothing, including a pair of the Napoli star's football jerseys.

The burglary took place in the early hours of Sunday morning (local time) during which time there was no-one in the house, which lies between Bacoli and Pozzuoli outside Naples.

The burglary was discovered by some neighbours, who called in federal carabinieri police, later on Sunday morning.

Cavani is away on international duty in Uruguay and scored in Friday's 4-2 victory against Bolivia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

Tim Vickery blog: A match-up to savour

After the albiceleste sent the Chile packing 4-1 in its opening match, with Gonzalo Higuain netting a hat-trick and Messi also hitting the target, coach Alex Sabella said it was as if a dead weight had been lifted from the players' shoulders.

Barcelona's Messi produced one of his best displays in the national shirt and after he capped the performance with a goal, Sabella, who succeeded Sergio Batista two months ago, said it was time to put to bed claims the superstar cannot replicate his scintillating club form at international level.

"This goal will be important for Lionel to lay to rest this apparent collective psychosis that he can't do the business with Argentina," Sabella insisted.

Sabella, who led Estudiantes to the Copa Libertadores two years ago, is tasked with leading Argentina through to the 2014 finals in neighbouring Brazil, but, beyond that, with making the two-time world champion a team to be feared once more.

Since a 1993 Copa success, seven coaches have come and gone without achieving senior level silverware.

The qualifying programme is the first step for Sabella and his charges to show that they have the right blend.

The task is made easier in principle by the absence from the qualifiers of already-qualified Brazil, meaning the Argentinians can go about their business fully focused on winning the group in the absence of the five-times world champion.

Venezuela will be a test on its own turf, having played some attractive football in reaching the Copa semis for the first time.

Four years ago, Argentina won the World Cup fixture 2-0 though they only just managed to qualify after some erratic showings with Diego Maradona taking the helm mid-campaign.

This time it has good momentum after thumping Chile, although there will be no underestimating the Venezuelan side, even though the Albiceleste will be reinforced by the return from injury of Martin Demichelis and Javier Mascherano from suspension.

Venezuela went down to Ecuador in its opening qualifier and coach Cesar Farias, eulogised by President Hugo Chavez for his Copa exploits, admitted that "they deserved to beat us."

Now the Venezuelan side has to dig deep at Puerto La Cruz as its bids to lose its unwanted tag of being the only South American side never to reach the finals.

"The qualifiers are not just about one game, and we have to bounce back from the loss and get points on the board," Farias said.

Copa America winner Uruguay, having begun with a promising 4-2 home win over outsider Bolivia, now meets Paraguay, the team it beat to land the continental crown in July.

Veteran Diego Forlan is warning that the test in Asuncion will be one of the most difficult of the tournament.

"We know Tuesday will be tough. They'll be playing at home and we know they have good players so it will be a hard one for us," said Forlan, who needs one goal to become his country's all-time top scorer.

"They always give us a tough workout and as this one is in Assuncion it will be no exception."

Paraguay got its campaign off to a rocky start in losing the opener away to Peru which, after a shocking 2010 qualifying programme, came third at the Copa America.

Peru will hope to keep its recent promising form going as it heads for Chile while Colombia faces Bolivia at altitude in La Paz's Estadio Hernando Siles, where four years ago it managed a goalless draw.

There are four automatic regional qualifying slots up for grabs plus one via the playoffs

A federal judge has issued an injunction to halt construction at the Sao Paulo international airport because the expansion project was allegedly initiated without a bidding process.

Judge Louise Borer said in a statement Monday the government agency that oversees airport infrastructure illegally ordered the work to begin, saying it was an urgent project to avoid air travel chaos during the World Cup.

The judge called it a "made-up urgency," saying it was being used as an excuse to avoid the bidding process. She noted the need to avoid air transportation problems in Brazil is not recent.

For the former striker, who tasted glory in 1994 with the Selecao, well-off people would get to enjoy the event and those coming in from abroad would also enjoy the competition.

But the less well-off would not be so fortunate, Romario told RedeTv.

"Ticket (prices) will be absurd. So unfortunately the World Cup will not be for the Brazilian people.

"Brazilian people who like football, follow it passionately on a day-to-day basis, are mainly from the C, D and E (social) classes," Romario said.

In his view, they will not be able to afford to enjoy the jamboree.

Earlier this year, amid fears that Brazil's infrastructure would not be ready in time with massive upgrades of transport and also stadiums - most notably the Maracana - required, Romario said he believed the country would struggle to stage one of the best ever tournaments.

"Only Jesus could save the World Cup in Brazil. Only he could help Brazil stage the best ever," he said.

Approached by members of the British media on Friday on the eve of the FIFA World Cup qualifying draw in Rio de Janeiro, Teixeira said he would not talk to the "English press" because they were "corrupt."

Some reporters started to complain and a spokesman for the Brazilian federation had to intervene to keep the incident from escalating.

Brazilian federation spokesman Rodrigo Paiva said the journalists had been advised that Teixeira would not speak at that moment but a British reporter broke through security and tried to talk to Teixeira.

Paiva said a news conference with Teixeira had been planned for later on Friday but it was uncertain whether it would happen after the problem with the English journalists.

Teixeira has been at odds with the English media since the BBC alleged the Brazilian official was one of the FIFA members who took kickbacks from the former marketing partner of the governing body in the 1990s.

Teixeira also had a feud with England's Football Association after David Triesman, the former head of England's failed bid for the 2018 World Cup, accused the Brazilian of improper ethical behaviour.

Teixeira was cleared by FIFA of any wrongdoing but has continued to attack English media and the FA. He said the allegations were made because the English were upset for losing the World Cup bid.

In a recent interview to Brazilian magazine Piaui, Teixeira lashed out at Triesman, the FA and the BBC, accusing them of trying to destabilise the World Cup that Brazil is preparing to host for the first time in 64 years.

Teixeira, the president of the World Cup's local organising committee, also is constantly attacked by Brazilian media for alleged irregularities running Brazilian football.

A march in protest against Teixeira is planned for Saturday before the qualifying draw. There is also a campaign on Twitter against the Brazilian official who has been head of the Brazilian football federation since 1989.

A member of the Oman coaching staff suffered a head injury as the Burmese supporters went on the rampage after the away team took a 2-0 lead in the game at the Tuwana stadium on Thursday, the Burma official told AFP.

"The match was stopped after the first 39 minutes because security forces lost control of the Myanmar (Burmese) football fans," he said, adding that about 30,000 supporters were at the ground in total.

The identity of the injured man could not immediately be confirmed.

A statement on the website of world footballing body FIFA confirmed the match was "brought to a sudden close" after "local supporters hurled objects repeatedly onto the field".

"The final status of the match will be confirmed by the relevant body in due course," FIFA said.

Oman won the previous round 2-0.

Soe Moe, a media director at the Myanmar (Burma) Football Federation, said the MFF had apologised and would have to explain events to FIFA.

He expressed concern that the country could be banned from hosting future fixtures.

"The country could be harmed if they decide not to hold any international games in Myanmar (Burma) because of some violent audience members. The country's dignity is hurt because of them," he said, adding that he suspected people in the crowd were drunk.

He said FIFA rules meant the host country can face financial penalty if an object is found to have been thrown on to the pitch.

"But thousands of things were thrown inside the ground. Can you imagine how we will face FIFA's response?" he said.

The Burmese official said some of the fans sang the national anthem as they threw objects onto the pitch. "The Oman goalkeeper dared not to stay on the ground."

A witness to the violence said some players may have been hit.

MFF chairman Zaw Zaw was struck by projectiles from the stands as he tried to calm supporters, Soe Moe said.

"We do not blame all audience members, but people should not commit these kinds of actions in the future if they really love football," Soe Moe added.

Football is the most popular sport by far in Burma.

The country, which has a new nominally civilian government after nearly 50 years of army rule, has made efforts to become more internationally active.

It is set to host the SEA Games, a Southeast Asian sporting tournament, in 2013.

China beat lowly-ranked Laos 7-2 on Saturday.

In other Asian zone matches, Thailand had a 1-0 home win over Palestine to leave that matchup in the balance, and Singapore had an entertaining 5-3 home win over neighbour Malaysia.

Four goals from Hasan Abdel Fattah helped Jordan thrash Nepal 9-0 while Lebanon routed Bangladesh 4-0 and Uzbekistan tamed its Central Asian neighbour Kyrgyzstan also by a score of 4-0.

Indonesia, meanwhile, survived a tough test in Turkmenistan, coming away with a 1-1 draw and Iraq got past Yemen 2-0 at home.

The United Arab Emirates beat nine-man India 3-0 and Syria got past Tajikistan 2-1.

Kuwait beat the Philippines 3-0, Oman overcame Myanmar (Burma) 2-0 and four-time World Cup qualifiers Saudi Arabia defeated Hong Kong 3-0, helped by two late, first-half goals.

A humbling home defeat loomed for China when Laos went 2-0 up in the 32nd minute through goals from Soukaphone Vongchiengkham and Visay Phapouvanin.

But the immediate introduction of Yang Xu as a substitute turned the game around as the big striker scored a hat-trick and China stormed to a convincing victory.

Another substitute, midfielder Chen Tao, scored two goals, as did former Schalke midfielder Hao Junmin.

China's state news agency Xinhua said the Chinese Football Association announced that coach Gao Hongbo would be replaced as coach after Thursday's return leg, and a new man put in charge for the round-robin group-stage third round.

The five-goal buffer should be more than enough for China in the second leg, although in the first round of Asian qualifying, Laos scored six goals in the second leg to overturn a first-leg deficit against Cambodia.

In Tehran, a brace from striker Karim Ansarifard helped three-time Asian Cup champion Iran easily dispatch the Maldives.

Ansarifard opened the scoring in the fourth minute and doubled the host's advantage in the 62nd before captain Ali Karimi headed home a corner kick from Mohammad Reza Khalatbari five minutes later. Substitute Saeed Daghighi scored the final goal in the 86th from close range.

Iran, which routed the Indian Ocean island nation 17-0 in 1997 to set a World Cup qualifying record, will travel to Maldives for the return leg on Thursday.

With former Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac at the helm, Qatar dominated Vietnam in its match at the air conditioned Al Sadd Stadium in Doha.

Defender Mohammed Kasola opened the scoring for the host, knocking in a close range shot from a header by Bilal Mohammed in the sixth minute. Meshal Mubarak doubled the 2022 World Cup host's lead in the 50th minute, slotting home a shot from just outside the area. Substitute Yusef Ahmed then put the match out of reach in the 67th after he redirected a volley from Ibrahim Majed into the net.

Vietnam's only real chance came in the first half when LC Vinh's drive was saved by diving Qatari keeper Qasem Burhan in the 21st minute.

The return leg will be in Vietnam on Thursday.

Thailand was playing its first game under new coach Winfried Schaefer and in unfamiliar surroundings of a new stadium in Buriram in the northeast of the country rather than Bangkok.

The sole goal came in the 18th minute when Palestine's defence headed away a cross only as far as Jakkraphan Kaewprom, and the Buriram club player saw his shot deflect off an opponent and into the net.

Thailand pressed strongly for a second goal to provide a cushion ahead of the second leg, but Palestine held firm to keep the deficit to one goal.

The two teams met in an Olympic qualifier earlier this year which ended with Thailand winning a penalty shootout but later being disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.

In Singapore, the home team's victory over a familiar foe put the city-state in a good position to progress to the third round.

Malaysia went ahead in the first minute as striker Safee Sali took advantage of confusion in Singapore's defense to poke in one of his two goals, but by halftime it was 4-1 down.

Veteran striker Aleksander Duric equalised in the eighth minute and Qiu Li put Singapore ahead in the 21st before quickfire goals just before the break from Mustafic Fahrudin and Shi Jiayi.

Malaysia hit back with two goals in a minute midway through the second half, to Abdul Hadi Yahya and a second for Safee, before 40-year-old Duric scored a potentially crucial fifth for Singapore in the 82nd minute.

In Al Ain, the UAE scored two penalties on its way to beating a undermanned Indian side.

India went a man down when defender Debabrata Roy was sent off in the 19th minute. Things only got worse for India two minutes later, when Hamdan al-Kamali scored a penalty that resulted in goalkeeper Subrata Pal getting a red card.

The UAE doubled its advantage just before the half-hour mark with another penalty. This time, it was Mohamed al-Shehhi who successfully converted the spot kick.

But even with the two-man advantage, the UAE was made to work by the Indian squad. It only managed to score a third goal eight minutes from time when Ismail al-Hammadi made it 3-0.

There was 15 first-leg games being played across Asia on Saturday, with the return legs to be played on Thursday.

The 15 winners will join Japan, Australia, Korea Republic, Korea DPR and Bahrain in the draw for the group-stage third round.

Villa and his team-mates beat the Netherlands thanks to Andres Iniesta's extra-time goal exactly a year ago to claim a maiden World Cup triumph.

"I saw grown men crying like babies," Villa told Marca in an interview.

"In the dressing room we were all in tears. I was shocked to see tears from Xavi and Iniesta, players who have won everything in football, crying. I cried like a child."

But Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, then a Liverpool player, claimed he felt frustrated in an individual sense after ending the match injured.

"It wasn't what I imagined from a World Cup, ending it in injury was a disappointment," he said.

"It was the happiest ending possible in terms of the collective, but in terms of (my own) personal story it was something else."

Iniesta, who scored the goal with four minutes of extra-time remaining, told Marca he is proud of his historic winner.

"It has gone down in history and I am proud to have experienced and enjoyed something so historic," he said.

"I controlled the ball and I knew it was the time - it was one of the most special moments of my life."

The Barcelona midfielder peeled off his Spain shirt to reveal a message on his t-shirt to former Espanyol defender Dani Jarque, his close friend who had passed away from a heart attack the previous northern summer.

And Iniesta has now decided to donate the shirt to Espanyol.

"With this gesture, Iniesta won the hearts of all blue and white (Espanyol) supporters," said Espanyol in a statement on its website.

"Without doubt it will become one of the most prized and admired objects in our stadium for all that it represents."

One year after Spain beat the Netherlands, FIFA released its research that 909.6 million television viewers tuned in to at least one minute of the match at home, and the ratings likely topped one billion people when adding people who watched online and in public viewing places.

FIFA said 619.7 million people watched 20 consecutive minutes of Spain's 1-0 extra-time win.

However, the official ratings for football's biggest match seems to have been beaten by the four-hour Beijing ceremony.

FIFA said the 'average in-home global audience' was 530.9 million for the final played on 11 July, 2010, at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium.

The Olympics opening at Bird's Nest stadium was credited with a 593 million average audience.

FIFA said the 2010 World Cup - comprising 64 matches played by 32 countries over one month - was broadcast in every territory in the world.

More than 3.2 billion people, or 46.4 percent of the population, watched live coverage for a minimum of one minute, FIFA's research said.

The average official rating was 188.4 million for each match.

"These results show that the FIFA World Cup remains a compelling spectacle for viewers around the world," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said in a statement.

FIFA earned $2.4 billion euros ($3.16 billion) in broadcasting deals tied to the 2010 tournament, according to its financial report published in March.

FIFA said its ratings research included audited audience figures from 80 territories covering 70 percent of the world's population.

"Estimated ratings continue to be necessary in much of Africa, the Middle East, Caribbean, Pacific Islands and smaller markets in the Asia subcontinent," football's governing body said.

"July 11 last year was an extraordinary day that will never be forgotten," said Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque on Monday.

Del Bosque was speaking at the inauguration of the Explanada de la Seleccion Espanola, a riverside walkway in Madrid where thousands of fans of La Roja gathered to celebrate the World Cup triumph.

"A year on, I feel just as happy as I did that night, knowing that we achieved exactly what we went to South Africa to do.

"It is a source of great satisfaction to know that we finally won the World Cup for Spain 80 years after the competition came into being."

Madrid's decision to officially recognise the national team's achievement comes after a weekend in which ceremonies have been held across the country and huge swaths of media coverage have been given over to remembering what happened that night in Johannesburg.

On Saturday, parties were held in the village of Fuentealbilla in the central region of Castilla La Mancha, home of Andres Iniesta, the Barcelona midfielder who scored the decisive goal in the final.

A tense final appeared to be heading for a penalty shoot-out when, with just four minutes of extra-time remaining, Iniesta latched onto a Cesc Fabregas pass inside the box before thumping the winner past Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

"It was a wonderful night for all of us a year ago," a shy Iniesta told the media gathered in Fuentealbilla.

"It makes me so happy to be able to celebrate the occasion here with the people of my village.

"The fact that I have experienced something like that makes me so proud.

"I only hope that things continue to go so well, both collectively and on a personal level, and that we can enjoy more success in the future."

Most football fans in Spain will agree the winning goal could not have been scored by a more likeable player, and Iniesta was applauded by fans wherever he went with Barcelona last season.

His celebration that night at Soccer City is remembered almost as fondly as the goal itself, as the little midfielder ripped off his shirt to reveal a message to close friend Dani Jarque, the Espanyol defender and captain who had died suddenly while with his club on a pre-season tour to Italy in August, 2009.

The whole squad will go down as legends, though, and goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas was even flown back to Soccer City by the television station Telecinco to commemorate the occasion.

"When I lifted the cup, I had so many emotions running through me, happiness, relief, everything," the Real Madrid man said.

"We knew that the celebrations would be going on all over Spain."

It was a night that will never be forgotten, but Del Bosque and his players are also now looking to the future, with their sights set on retaining the European championship in Poland and Ukraine next year.

"We will be going there as one of the favourites," admitted Del Bosque.

"It will be great to go there as the reigning world champions, but we will also have a responsibility to perform well, and it will give our opponents extra motivation to beat us."

Immediately after his extra-time goal in Spain's 1-0 win over the Netherlands last year, Iniesta removed his jersey to show a white cutoff shirt bearing the words: 'Dani Jarque siempre con nosotros' (Dani Jarque always with us).

Jarque, Espanyol's captain, collapsed and died aged 26 on a pre-season tour of Italy in August 2009.

Iniesta, who plays for Espanyol's city rival, Barcelona, was praised throughout Spain for putting aside club rivalry to make the gesture.

Visitors can see the vest on matchdays and tours at Cornella-El Prat arena.

A first-half goal by Football Ferns' forward Sarah Gregorius had put the New Zealanders into a shock lead and England needed more than an hour to equalise thanks to a header from Everton midfielder Jill Scott.

Super sub Jessica Clarke then scored the winner on 81 minutes after Scott drilled a ball into the box and the 22-year-old saved the Three Lions' blushes by sweeping her shot into the roof of the net.

"We needed the win which was fantastic," Clarke said.

"To be honest, I can't say why we haven't clicked so far.

"Getting the win has given the team a lot more confidence."

With four points, England is almost assured of a place in the quarter-finals, but still faces unbeaten group leader Japan in Augsburg next Tuesday.

Japan secured its passage into the last eight with a 4-0 win over Mexico.

New Zealand is now going home after its second defeat of the competition and is playing for pride against Mexico in Sinsheim on Tuesday, who still has a mathematical chance of going through, but needs a goal-packed win.

"It was a bit of a nail-biter," New Zealand's English coach John Herdman said.

"That was a really solid performance, I am proud of the team, they led one of the powerhouses of football for a hour and nearly sneaked a result.

"We have a massive game now against Mexico and it is back to business as we try and get our first win at this World Cup."

England made a bright start in front of a crowd of 19,110, but there were a few nervous looks on its bench when experienced striker Kelly Smith injured her ankle in an early clash with New Zealand goalkeeper Jenny Bindon.

Despite limping off with barely eight minutes played, she recovered enough to re-take her place on the pitch, but her team was floored by the opening goal.

New Zealand forward Amber Hearn beat England captain Faye White on the far left and played the ball into the six-yard box as Gregorius squeezed between two defenders and stabbed the ball past Karen Bardsley after 18 minutes.

The 23-year-old could have made it 2-0 towards the end of the first half when she managed to get behind two England defenders with the ball at her feet, but failed to make her shot count.

England started the second half camped in the New Zealander half and the sustained pressure paid off when defender Alex Scott curled in a cross which Scott headed over the out-stretched arms of Kiwi goalkeeper Bindon.

The 63rd minute goal spurned the Football Ferns into action and coach John Herdman threw on forward Rosie White, one of New Zealand's rising stars, who squandered a great chance in front of goal with her first touch of the game.

But the Football Ferns' brief dreams of a historic win were dashed after Lincoln's Jessica Clarke came off the bench to break Kiwi hearts with the winner and there were plenty of tears from the losers at the final whistle.

It was a magnificent performance from Sawa, competing in her fifth World Cup, which stole the show as she lifted the Japanese to just their second quarter-finals after 1995.

The 32-year-old combined perfectly with fellow midfielder Aya Miyama to score two early goals after 13 and 39 minutes, adding her third on 80 minutes for a Japanese World Cup record. Ohno netted after 15 minutes.

"Even for myself it was a bit of a surprise," said Sawa.

"I didn't dare imagine I could score so many as three goals.

"The first and second were in combination with Miyama and she really gave me a nice ball. You could also say they're Aya's goals too."

Mexican coach Leonardo Cuellar admitted his side was shell-shocked.

"To take two goals so soon shook the team. They didn't allow us to settle. It's difficult to catch up against a team that is very technical and skillful," said a tearful Cuellar.

"This was a very painful defeat. Psychologically, mentally and physically we will have to recover before the next game.

The Japanese demolished Cuellar's young side to achieve a second win in as many games after a 2-1 opening success against New Zealand.

With a maximum six points the nation is assured of one of the two group qualifying spots to advance to the final eight with one group game to go.

Nicknamed 'the Nadeshiko' - a pink flower symbolising grace and beauty - the Japanese showed their mettle as they overwhelmed Mexico from the outset.

Sawa, the country's record 168-capped player, headed in after 13 minutes from a perfectly delivered Miyama freekick and two minutes later her INAC Leonessa teammate Ohno doubled the account from a Yuki Nagasto cross.

The Mexicans could find no answer to the attacking Japanese as Sawa continued the rout six minutes before the break when she rose above the melee in front of goal to head in a Miyama corner.

Japan thought it had a fourth just before the break but Yuki Nagasto's effort was ruled offside.

After the break, Stephany Mayor's long-range effort offered some hope to Mexico but it was saved with one hand by a diving Ayumi Kaihori.

Key striker Maribel Dominguez, who had been struggling with a calf injury, was replaced by defender Kenti Robles after 62 minutes as Cuellar tried to plug Mexico's leaky defence.

But Sawa slammed home Japan's superiority with her third when she fired in past diving 16-year-old keeper Cecilia Santiago after a Yukari Kinga cross on 80 minutes.

Three minutes later Norio Sasaki substituted the midfielder for Rumi Utsugi and a celebrating Sawa ran off the pitch to an ovation from the crowd 22,291 crowd.

The Japanese didn't give up their search for a fifth goal, with Nagasto and Miyama missing two last-gasp efforts.

It was a triumphant start to the tournament for Sasaki's fourth-ranked Japanese who did now even know if they could compete in Germany after the earthquake and tsumani that devastated Japan in March.

England, who drew 1-1 with Mexico in their Group B opener, looks set to take the second group qualifying spot after coming from behind to beat New Zealand 2-1 in Dresden to sit second in the table on four points.

The Mexicans, still with a slim mathematical chance of going through, play New Zealand, who have no points from two games, in Sinsheim on Tuesday.

Japan next play England in Augsburg.

In was the sixth victory for the Japan in eight meetings with the Mexico, who fare badly against the Asians in the world tournament having lost the play-offs for the World Cup in 2003 and 2007 to Japan.

A double from Gaetane Thiney and second half goals from Camille Abily and Elodie Thomis put France on the way to its first quarter-final appearance at the Women's World Cup with just one group game to play.

The French are assured of a place in the last eight after Germany beat Nigeria 1-0 in Frankfurt.

Simone Laudehr’s 64th-minute goal proved to be the match-winner for the host in a bruising encounter.

France won its opener against Nigeria 1-0 on Sunday and as the Canadians lost 2-1 to defending champion Germany it needed at least a draw to keep alive its hopes of being one of the two group teams to advance.

But the French outplayed their rival, with 25-year-old Thiney claiming her first World Cup goals in either half before Abily and substitute Thomis continued the slaughter.

France, who achieved just its second win in seven meetings against Canada, plays its third and final group game against Germany in Moenchengladbach on Tuesday.

With a football pedigree as insignificant as its size and population of 670,000, the West African nation is playing its first tournament outside its own continent.

Yet no team has attracted so much controversy.

On Tuesday, FIFA forced Equatorial Guinea to remove a player with Spanish ancestry from its squad due to doubts about her citizenship.

There have also been concerns about the addition of several players with Brazilian roots to improve the squad's quality.

Further compounding the problems, the gender of some players has been the subject of unfounded rumours in the media. None of the 21 players in Germany have been barred for medical reasons by FIFA, which dismisses the accusations.

But it still ensured coach Marcello Frigerio had a tall task in keeping his players focused for Wednesday's narrow loss to Norway and for their next Group D clash with Australia in Bochum on Sunday.

"I had to do a lot to ensure that they can forget about all these things," the Brazilian said.

"But of course, the players also surf the internet. They read things, they look at things. We tried to screen these things out, eliminate them and focus on the Cup."

Amazingly, they did a pretty good job.

The 61st-ranked Africans kept top-10 nation Norway scoreless for 84 minutes with a mixture of flair and perseverance before ultimately losing by a single goal in the biggest game of their history.

"Winning against Norway would have been a huge success," Frigerio added.

Mystery breeds suspicion. In that sense, some problems were almost invited. Frigerio said he sought to provide as little information as possible about his squad.

"We are a small country and we have to make sure it becomes an advantage for our team that our rivals don't have anything on us," Frigerio said, before adding with pride: "Even on Google, you won't find a lot."

His players used that anonymity to the best of their advantage against Norway, although they survived a second-minute scare when Emile Haavi hit the inside of the post.

It proved the beginning of a charmed run, as the tournament's biggest outsider gave the 1995 world champion a real fright.

Among Equatorial Guinea's half dozen players with Brazilian ancestry are standout goalkeeper Miriam and defender Carolina. Frigerio said buying players from other nations reflects the realities of a small country in a big world, and money is not a problem in a land rich in oil and gas.

"The players all have roots in Equatorial Guinea," he said. "Either their parents or grandparents come from there."

Frigerio said his task is to blend the Brazilian talents of positioning and ball skills with the physical stamina and willpower of the African players.

As evident in many national teams, Equatorial Guinea is also a reflection of an increasingly global melting pot. Take striker Jade Boho, who was sent home.

"She lives in Spain and she has a Spanish father but her mother is Guinean," Frigerio said.

"So where is the problem?"

Japan is Group B favourite but Smith believes the New Zealand Ferns can pull off an upset as they did during the opening game of the Beijing Olympics when they also met the Japanese and drew 2-2.

"Japan are among the favourites to go all the way," said the 30-year-old defender.

"But we're pretty confident we'll be able to keep to our strategy and all the work we've done will pay off.

"We're a different team than three years ago. We've developed a lot but so has Japan. Going in we have a bit of confidence from three years ago."

The 24th-ranked Kiwis have failed to win a match in their previous World Cup appearances in 1991 and 2007 but coach John Herdman believes they have the measure of the Japanese.

"We're playing a team we know well," he said.

"If you look back to the 2008 Olympics opening game New Zealand caused a bit of an upset and we're hoping that will happen again tomorrow.

"Japan are one of the best teams in the world. New Zealand's job will be to knock Japan out of their rhythm.

"Our style gives us a competitive edge. Some teams can't compete with Japan but we have shown we can. The last two games have been pretty close.

"We have some players emerge over the last few years that will surprise Japan."

Herdman added that the New Zealand women were hoping to emulate their men's success during the 2010 World Cup.

"They really set the tone for football in the country. It's called 'white fever'," he said.

"New Zealand is known more for rugby but for a few weeks the round ball took over. Those boys were unbeaten for three games."

Los Angeles-born Smith, who plays professionally in Germany with VfL Wolfsburg, added that it wasn't expecting the predicted temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius to hamper its game.

"In China it was hot and humid as well. It won't be humid here at least. I don't think it will have a huge impact. We're pretty prepared for this."

New Zealand wraps up its group games against England on 1 July in Dresden and Mexico four days later in Sinsheim.

"They have much still to deliver," Valcke said at the Inside World Football Moscow Forum, a major conference on the hosting of football events, in the Russian capital.

"We do not have the stadia, we don't have airports, we don't have a national transportation system in place."

Valcke emphasised that FIFA considers the awarding of a World Cup to a host country to be a final judgment.

But his unusually blunt remarks came after criticism of Brazil's preparations by FIFA president Sepp Blatter in March.

"We cannot have a stadium ready at the last minute ... meaning that it will already be two months or two weeks prior to the World Cup," Valcke added.

He unfavourably compared Brazil's preparations to the progress of Russia, which was only last year awarded the right to host the 2018 edition of the World Cup.

"The stadia are the most important things. We are more advanced in Russia even than we are in Brazil," Valcke said.

In March Blatter warned the Brazilian authorities, saying he was waiting for "a bit of effect" from the five-time World Cup winner "because it's not moving forward, it's not moving forward very fast".

"What they should do in Brazil is put a little bit more speed in the organisation," Blatter had said.

Speaking to Fox Sports News, an incredulous Neill emphatically refuted the allegations in TWG host Les Murray's book The World Game.

"It's clearly, from my point of view, not true," Neill said. "I'd probably like to know how it's come about, and if it's a way to sell books then so be it - I've seen that done before - but I don't want to see my reputation, and all the hard work we've tried to do for football, looking bad in public opinion."

When asked about explosive revelations that he asked Verbeek to leave the room, before describing his game-plan as "bullshit" and erasing what the Dutchman had written on a whiteboard, Neill said: "I'm trying to get hold of Schwarzy (Mark Schwarzer) now because we were talking as a leadership group before the game about how we were going to approach it mentally.

"In the end Schwarzy started talking in the changeroom and as a senior pro, I respected what he was saying.

"Before we knew it, it was time to go out and I actually didn't get to give my captain's speech, which the boys will tell you, has become something I like to do."

"I can recall a whiteboard being there, but when we get into the changerooms, it's about putting the last reminders up and refreshing each others' memory. But doesn't get done on the whiteboard.

"As captain, I certainly wouldn't tell anyone to get out of the room and not on one of the greatest nights of a lot of the players' and backroom staff's football careers."

Neill also defended Verbeek, who's negative approach to the Germany match has been heavily criticised.

"Pim won us so many games in tough places to win games and he got us to the World Cup with time to spare. That's credit to a man who, ok, didn't go down well in everyone's books, but as a captain I'm not going to undermine that guy," Neill said.

"He was my manager, my boss. Whatever he says I'm going to get all the boys believing in that and I certainly felt that we had that in the tournament but unfortunately as a team we made a mistake in the first team and that cost us very dearly."

"It's unfair to make me a scapegoat and say that I've undermined the manager and it's unfair to say Pim's a bad manager. He had one bad game out of 16."

Neill called on Murray to reveal his sources and pointed towards possible legal action.

"My aim now is to ensure that my reputation remains intact, as I have worked very hard over many years to maintain a good and positive image within the sporting landscape and I will fight to the fullest extent of the law to clear my name of this scandalous accusation," he said in a statement sent to AAP.

"I will be discussing the matter with my management and lawyers over the coming days.

"Those who are claiming that they have this information provided to them by `sources' should reveal who those sources are, as I am sure that this information will come to light during the course of due legal process."

Details of the acrimonious dressing room spat, revealed in TWG host Les Murray’s book The World Game, paint the picture of a Socceroos group so deeply divided over the defensive tactics of Verbeek that the players almost forfeited the match, which Australia eventually lost 4-0.

Such was the discontent between the playing group and Verbeek in the minutes prior to the fateful clash in Durban, Socceroos captain Lucas Neill openly described the coach’s strategy as “bullshit”.

“After the coach, Dutchman Pim Verbeek, had addressed the players, naming his line-up and the strategy, the team captain, Lucas Neill, asked the coach to leave the change room while he addressed his colleagues. Verbeek consented. On closing the door behind the coach, Neill erased Verbeek’s scribbles on the whiteboard and told the players to ‘ignore this bullshit’ and ‘play like we normally play’," Murray wrote.

A major bone of contention for the players was Verbeek’s failure to include a recognised forward in the named team, with Harry Kewell, Josh Kennedy and Brett Holman all on the sub's bench.

“In the confusion there was so much delay that the point was reached when a FIFA match official knocked on the Australian change room and, pointing to his watch, warned the Australians that if they didn’t take to the field immediately they would have to forfeit the match," Murray continued.

The defeat in Durban was a blow from which the Socceroos failed to recover. Despite managing a 1-1 draw with Ghana and defeating Serbia 2-1, Australia failed to progress past the group stage on goal difference.

Berlin's Olympic Stadium is expected to have a sell-out crowd for Germany's opening game against Canada in Group A on June 26 with more than 70,000 expected to cheer on their team.

The German Football Federation (DFB) has worked hard to sell the tournament to its football-mad countrymen, it remains to be seen whether Germans' passion for the men's game holds true for the women's World Cup.

"It's my dream for Germany and the DFB to present itself as friendly and open hosts in 2011, like we did five years ago," said DFB president Theo Zwanziger.

"I wouldn't have any problem with our team winning the tournament either."

The men's FIFA World Cup hosted by Germany in 2006 was a tremendous success. Germany finished third and the women will need to at least match that to earn recognition from the German public.

The squad has an excellent mix of young talent and experienced veterans.

Captain Birgit Prinz, 33, is set to bow out after the tournament and with a staggering 211 caps and 128 goals to her name and she has already twice won the World Cup.

"Obviously we're favourites but really it's a win-win situation for us," said Prinz.

"We've got nothing to lose."

Her partner up front in Germany's attack will be no less of a threat to group rivals Nigeria, Canada and France as Inka Grings, 32, of Duisburg has 89 and 69 international goals and will also bow out after the tournament.

Striker Alexandra Popp and midfielder Kim Kulig have been promoted from the under-20 squad which won the junior World Cup last year and both have scored in recent warm-up wins.

In midfield, the jewel in Germany's crown is Fatmire Bajramaj, the photogenic daughter of Albanian immigrants who could threaten Brazil's Marta for the golden boot award as she can split defences with her passing and dribbling.

She will be backed up in the middle by plenty of experience as Frankfurt's Kerstin Garefrekes and Ariane Hingst, both aged 31, have nearly 200 caps between them.

Germany has enjoyed heavy recent wins over both Group A rivals Canada, 5-0 in Dresden last September, and Nigeria, 8-0 in Leverkusen last November, but nerves could well be a factor when the tournament kicks off.

Previous FIFA World Cup hosts have been chosen by a vote of the 24-member FIFA executive committee, however President Sepp Blatter proposed expanding the electorate to include all FIFA members.

The law change was passed by a margin of 176 votes to four, shortly after Blatter had been re-elected to a new four-year term following an acrimonious election campaign.

Blatter had earlier said the FIFA congress would choose World Cup host nations in future after being given a shortlist presented by the executive committee.

"I think there is a significant degree of suspicion that one cannot just dismiss," Zwanziger told ZDF public television when asked about calls for the sport's world governing body to take away the event from Qatar.

"And that is why I reckon that the awarding of this World Cup must be re-examined with regard to these concerns," he said.

"I do not want to comment on how that might happen until I know more about the matter. I am an outsider and not a member of the executive committee," the DFB president added.

Qatar 2022 World Cup organisers on Monday "categorically denied" any wrongdoing, after claims by suspended FIFA vice-president Jack Warner that the Arab country "bought" the hosting rights.

FIFA has been rocked by an unprecedented wave of corruption revelations lately, stemming from the race to host the 2018 and 2022 editions of the World Cup which Russia and Qatar won in December.

Two FIFA officials were suspended after a newspaper sting found they offered to sell their votes, while England's former 2018 bid chief said he witnessed "improper and unethical" behaviour by four FIFA voters, including Warner.

Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam, seen as highly influential in Qatar's successful bid, and officials from the tiny, resource-rich country have strongly denied claims that large bribes were paid to secure its victory.

Football's governing body said that Brazil is mostly on track with its preparations, but "concerns remain with regard to airport operations and capacities as well as transport infrastructure."

Renovating Brazil's overcrowded airports and improving urban mobility have been among the biggest challenges for local organisers ahead of the World Cup.

"It is crucial that any venues which host the World Cup have adequate infrastructure to be able to cater for the tens of thousands of spectators and allow them to move around the city for a particular match," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said in a statement. "If this is not the case, we cannot stage matches in those cities."

FIFA said such concerns have been addressed with the highest authorities in Brazil and they are aware of the need for improvements.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff recently announced the country's airports will be opened up to private investment to ensure they are completed in time for the World Cup. Local officials have said they are confident the country will be able to properly accommodate the World Cup visitors three years from now.

Although FIFA said it received detailed reports showing that most World Cup preparations are "well on track," delays in stadium construction will keep the cities of Natal and Sao Paulo out of the Confederations Cup. The governing body said only cities with a stadium ready in early 2013 will be eligible to host matches in the warm-up tournament.

Natal and Sao Paulo, South America's biggest city and Brazil's financial centre, have yet to begin venue construction. Sao Paulo still wants to host the tournament's opener, however.

Sao Paulo also won't be able to host the International Broadcast Centre, which FIFA said will be located in Rio de Janeiro. Brasilia, the nation's capital, was also vying to accommodate the tournament's media center.

FIFA said the venues and the match schedule for the World Cup will be presented on July 29 in Rio de Janeiro. The preliminary draw for the World Cup is scheduled for July 30.

Blatter also says he once received a cash-filled envelope while FIFA secretary general, before becoming president 13 years ago.

He says he handed over the money to a FIFA colleague who returned it to the unnamed bribe-giver.

Blatter promises to tackle allegations of past corruption and "there will be facts" revealed in his zero-tolerance project being presented to the FIFA Congress, immediately before his election contest against Qatar's Mohamed bin Hammam.

"We have to make sure that in the next term of office immediately starting after the election that we rebuild the image of FIFA," said the 75-year-old Swiss.

Maradona made the accusation on Argentine television and accused FIFA vice-president Julio Grondona, the head of Argentina's Football Association, of knowing about the doping.

"Why weren't there any anti-doping controls in the match with Australia if we had them in all the other games?" Maradona asked during an interview on The Football Show.

"They give you 10 anti-doping controls and only the match that decides whether Argentina will go to the United States or not, there is no anti-doping control.

"That's the cheat and Grondona knew about it.

"What happened is that to play against Australia we were given a speedy coffee. They put something in the coffee and that's why we ran more."

Grondona had no immediate comment over Maradona's claims.

After drawing with Australia in Sydney, Argentina won 1-0 in the second leg in Buenos Aires to advance to the tournament in the United States, from which Maradona was later sent home after testing positive for drugs.

The ongoing feud between the two erupted when Grondona decided not to renew Maradona's contract as Argentina coach after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Maradona reacted angrily to comments the 80-year-old Grondona made last week that were seen as veiled references to his much-publicised battle with drugs.

After Maradona suggested the AFA president should retire, Grondona was quoted as saying: "I'm old but healthy," noting that others had "created problems" for themselves.

Maradona said Grondona has long been perfectly aware of drug use in football.

"We took whatever the doctor gave us," Maradona said.

"To go to the World Cup, we'd have taken even orange juice.

"I'm saying it now because Grondona talks about drugs as if he didn't know anything about drugs in football and the sickness I suffered."

Maradona went on to insinuate that the Argentine government under President Cristina Fernandez was protecting Grondona because of a television deal with the AFA to broadcast national league matches for free.

"I'm not asking the president to fire him, I'm saying there should be changes," Maradona said.

"Given all the barbarities that Grondona does, because he's old or because his time has passed, if the government keeps backing him then they are wrong."

Argentine cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez rejected the idea that Grondona had any special protection.

"Time for a fresh approach," Asia's football chief tweeted in capital letters, before adding: "Time to restore pride in FIFA" just a minute later.

FIFA has been beset by allegations of corruption in the run-up to the June 1 election, when Bin Hammam will challenge former ally Sepp Blatter, who is seeking a fourth and final four-year term.

On Sunday, the BBC's Panorama investigative program aired a report claiming FIFA is trying to block the release of a document that reveals the identity of two officials forced to repay bribes.

The settlement relates to alleged bribes paid to senior FIFA officials in the 1990s by sports marketing company International Sports and Leisure (ISL), Panorama reported.

Earlier this month Britain's Lord David Triesman, chairman of the country's defeated bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, told a parliamentary inquiry that senior FIFA officials demanded cash and honours in return for their votes.

While Blatter dismissed British claims as a case of sour grapes after its failed World Cup bid, Qatar's Bin Hammam said FIFA had been "sullied beyond compare" under the Swiss.

However, the Asian Football Confederation president has also been forced to deny allegations aired in the British parliamentary inquiry that his home country paid large bribes to secure hosting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA's ethics committee is probing claims that executive members were paid bribes of $US1.5million ($A1.39million) during the bidding process for the 2022 tournament.

Qatar went on to win the December ballot, with Australia's $45 million bid achieving just one vote.

The FIFA investigation has sparked belief that the bidding process could be rerun.

However, Senator Arbib urged caution.

"Certainly I think everybody is very cautious about what lies ahead," he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

"We're not getting our hopes up that there will be a decision to have a new ballot.

"I don't think we should get our hopes up yet.

"We need to have a chance for these allegations to be heard."

Senator Arbib described FIFA's investigation as a "positive step" and said its ethics committee would convene on June 1.

"Australia would have put on the best ever World Cup, there's no doubt about it," he continued.

"We have the infrastructure, we have the people and certainly there was great disappointment across the country when we weren't successful."

A resubmission of Australia's bid should not cost any additional money, Senator Arbib added.

"It shouldn't cost us any extra money... all the work has been done in terms of scoping the stadium, all the specifications, the technical work is complete."

A British House of Commons committee first heard allegations that two African FIFA executive committee members were bribed to vote for Qatar.

The Gulf nation later issued a statement denying "serious and baseless" allegations and saying they will "remain unproven because they are false".

"Forced evictions, it is kind of the other side of the Olympics," Salil Shetty, Amnesty's secretary general, told AFP in an interview.

Parts of Rio de Janeiro's slums, or favelas, are being razed to make way for highways, but Amnesty's chief warned that human rights are at stake. A third of Rio's six million residents live in the shantytowns.

"Nobody denies there is need of infrastructure and reorganisation for those projects, the question is how you do it," Shetty said.

Brazil is in the midst of a massive infrastructure upgrade - building new roads, expanding airports and repairing stadiums - in advance of the World Cup and Olympic Games.

But with greater economic power and now hosting high-profile global events, Brazil, which is campaigning for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, must be careful to respect human rights at home, Amnesty said.

"Brazil is becoming more and more important at the global stage," Shetty said. "As they have greater aspirations to become an international actor, then they have to get their domestic house in order. I think there will be pressure."

Still, Shetty expressed optimism about President Dilma Rousseff's commitment to human rights.

Rousseff has taken a more neutral stance on Iran than her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had a friendly relationship with Tehran. Brazil recently voted for appointing a special UN investigator on human rights in Iran.

The Netherlands and Manchester City midfielder admitted he should have received a red card, not a yellow for his chest-high challenge on Spain's Xabi Alonso.

The Dutch lost an ill-tempered game after John Heitinga was sent off and De Jong was vilified at home and abroad.

De Jong told De Volkskrant: "At no time did I see Xabi Alonso because I was focused only on the ball.

"Actually, when I think back about it, it was not good at all. Of course the referee (Howard Webb) should have shown a red card for the foul. That is obvious."

The incident left De Jong fearing for his safety.

"I had the feeling that there were people who wanted to harm me," he said.

"I've been public enemy number one on many occasions. Honestly, people treated me like a war criminal. It was an unpleasant sensation."

FIFA on Thursday announced the composition of the 22-member Task Force Football 2014, which also includes World Cup winners Bobby Charlton, Cafu and Christian Karembeu.

The task force is a pet project of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who said last year it would help create "a more attractive" World Cup than was seen in South Africa.

"This vastly experienced team will address every facet of the game, tackling any challenges related to the game and coming up with appropriate solutions," Blatter said Thursday in a statement.

The line-up of former players includes former AC Milan teammates Demetrio Albertini and Dejan Savicevic, Fernando Hierro and Zambia's Kalusha Bwalya.

FIFA also appointed officials from three countries who lost in bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups: United States federation president Sunil Gulati, and chief executives Alex Horne from England and Japan's Kohzo Tashima.

Beckenbauer, who retires as a member of FIFA's executive committee in June, said his team will examine goal-line technology and using additional assistant referees at each end of the field.

Referees are represented by Swiss World Cup official Massimo Busacca, the retired Peter Mikkelsen of Denmark and Paraguay's Carlos Alarcon, a member of FIFA's referees committee.

Women's football representatives include former Canada forward Charmaine Hooper and Italian journalist Marina Sbardella.

FIFA's chief medical officer Jiro Dvorak and Theo van Seggelen, general secretary of the FIFPro global group of players' unions, are also included.

The panel will first meet May 10 in Zurich, and deliver a report to the congress of FIFA's 208 national members on June 1.

David Triesman and David Richards, the then chairman and deputy chairman of England 2018, told the British broadsheet that Jack Warner brought up the subject during a meeting in London 18 months ago.

Bidding nations are forbidden from offering gifts to delegates, and the pair claim that the proposal for the centre in Warner's native Trinidad and Tobago was immediately dismissed.

"He didn't say: 'Do this and I'll vote for you'," Richards told the paper. "But it was always at the back of my mind. I did nod my head at Triesman as if to say: Let's not get into this.

"What he said was England should be building this kind of education block as a legacy throughout the world. He did say Trinidad and Tobago wanted one. He said it was an education set-up that he wanted for the children of Trinidad and Tobago," Richards added.

"It was absolutely out of the question," Triesman, who was also head of England's Football Association (FA), said.

England believed Warner's support was key to a successful bid, but in the end were humiliated after only securing two votes from the 22 voting FIFA delegates.

Warner rejected the England allegations.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he said.

"Why should I ask David Freestone [sic] or somebody for some offices here? Why should I? To do what? It doesn't make sense."

Triesman quit from his posts at the FA and England 2018 when he was secretly recorded making allegations of bribery against Spain and Russia during the 2010 World Cup.

There was widespread scepticism in England after the 2018 tournament was given to Russia, and the 2022 competition to oil-rich Qatar.

The stadium was expected to be ready by the end of 2012, but Brazilian football federation president Ricardo Teixeira told local channel SporTV that it possibly won't be ready before 2013. He said the goal remains to have Maracana ready for that year's Confederations Cup.

Maracana will host the World Cup final, just as it did when Brazil organised the tournament for the first time in 1950.

The stadium hasn't been used since last September because of the renovations.

Teixeira said late Wednesday that a new roof was necessary because of "unexpected" problems in the present roof.

In January, Rio de Janeiro city officials found deterioration in some materials used in the roof's structure, but at the time there wasn't enough evidence to confirm it was compromised. The full extent of the problem was discovered after a study by the city department in charge of revitalising the venue.

According to Teixeira, engineers said it was easier to build a new roof than to fix it. The initial project was to keep the original roof.

It wasn't announced how the changes would affect the renovation cost, which originally was estimated at about $430 million. Some local media reports said it could surpass $600 million now.

Maracana underwent extensive renovation in 2005 to make it ready for the 2007 Pan American Games successfully hosted by Rio de Janeiro.

Teixeira's announcement of problems with Maracana's roof came just days after FIFA President Sepp Blatter criticised Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup. He urged officials to speed up construction work for the monthlong tournament, including at stadiums.

Teixeira denounced Blatter's criticism on Wednesday, but acknowledged that some host cities were facing difficulties.

"We have problems in Sao Paulo and Natal because the stadiums there haven't started being built yet," Teixeira said.

The stadium in Sao Paulo is expected to host the opening match.

Teixeira also said the lack of upgrades in the country's outdated airports remain a big concern, but added that the government was aware of the difficulties and was working to solve all problems.

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Almagro confirmed the committee plans, which has been talked about for several years.

They said they will work with each country's football authorities to coordinate their efforts.

World Cup hosts have been selected through to 2022. Brazil will hold the 2014 tournament followed by Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. The only World Cup held jointly by two nations was Japan and South Korea in 2002.

"It will be a 100-year anniversary and we believe it would be interesting if it's played in America, and more specifically in Rio de la Plata," Argentine sports secretary Claudio Morresi said.

The Rio de la Plata is the huge river estuary that forms a border between Argentina and Uruguay and separates the Argentine capital Buenos Aires from Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

Both countries have twice won the World Cup, with Uruguay winning the first tournament by defeating Argentina 4-2 in the final. Uruguay also won in 1950, while Argentina won in 1978 and 1986.

Rousseff said Tuesday that "it's not an easy task to prepare for an event of such magnitude," but dismissed worries that Brazil won't get things done in time for the monthlong tournament.

She said in the president's blog that Brazil will invest nearly $20 billion in infrastructure to ensure the World Cup is a triumph. She said 68 per cent of that amount will come from the federal government.

There have been concerns with the country's preparations for the World Cup, and recently a government watchdog group warned that Brazil needs to improve the pace of upgrades to airports, infrastructure and stadiums.

Rousseff downplayed the concerns, however, saying similar things were said just a year before the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

"It was said that (South Africa) would not be able to complete the construction work, but the World Cup was considered a success," Rousseff said.

She said the tournament will bring great benefits to Brazil, helping create more than 700,000 jobs and attracting nearly 600,000 tourists.

"The World Cup will contribute to our development project," she said.

Rousseff, the first woman to become Brazil's president, will be on her last year in office during the 2014 World Cup.

FIFA will retain the same number of World Cup places for each confederation for the 2014 tournament but Brazil will take the hosts' spot given to South Africa for 2010.

South America has just 10 countries in its confederation CONMEBOL and already had four definite places without the hosts' spot, and the chance of another via a play-off.

Unlike previous tournaments, there will be a draw to decide who South Americans will face - for the last World Cup it was fixed in advance that a South American country would play one from CONCACAF, and an Asian country play the leading country from the Oceania confederation.

It means Europe will continue to have 13 spots for the World Cup in Brazil.

CONCACAF, the confederation of countries in north and central America and the Caribbean, had asked FIFA to be handed an automatic spot instead of a play-off but this was turned down by the executive committee.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter told a news conference: "Naturally CONCACAF were not so happy but it is impossible in our world to make everyone happy.

"But because CONCACAF were not so eager to play off again with CONMEBOL (South America) there will be a draw for the four teams in the play-off."

The slow pace of preparations in Brazil continues to be a concern however after Blatter admitted that FIFA still did not know where the opening match of 2014 would be played.

Local organisers have put forward Sao Paulo, but planning permission has not even been given for the stadium let alone any building work started.

Blatter said: "We have had the first meeting of the organising committee and definitely it is not yet decided where the opening match will be played.

"For the time being there is not yet a stadium ready in Sao Paulo or Rio and perhaps they will not even be ready in time for the Confederations Cup in 2013.

"The decision on the use of the stadium will definitely be a sporting decision, not a political one."

FIFA's financial report shows the body made a surplus of $US631 million in the period 2007-2010, including the World Cup in South Africa.

That is $US32 million down on the 2003-2006 figures, when the World Cup was held in Germany, but overall revenues have shown a 59% rise on four years ago to 4.189billion US dollars.

"The World Cup in South Africa was a great financial success," said FIFA deputy secretary general Markus Kattner.

Meanwhile, Wales' hopes of hosting either the under-17 or under-20 World Cups in 2015 have been dashed.

FIFA's executive committee instead chose New Zealand to host the under-20 tournament and Chile for the under-17 event.

Wales also lost a bid in January to host UEFA's 2013 European Under-21 Championships.

They were also up against Russia and Tunisia for the under-17 World Cup while Tunisia and Peru were the other bidders for the under-20 tournament.

The 2015 women's World Cup has been awarded to Canada after the only other bidders Zimbabwe withdrew.

Blazer also questioned why Africa should have more spots than CONCACAF given their relatively poor showing in the World Cup.

He said on his Twitter account: "Really not happy with today's FIFA Exco meeting. Everyone protects their own interests rather than doing what's right. Convenient decisions.

"The last two times we [USA] hosted, 1986 & 1994, we didn't get an extra spot. Why should South America?

"In 2010, Africa 6 [places] and only Ghana advance in Africa. Why do they have 5 and we 3.5? We advanced 67%."

Blatter told African football leaders that the financial results were better than the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.

He said more details of its success will be published next week in FIFA's annual report.

FIFA began the World Cup year with reserves of $US1.06 billion ($1.06 billion).

FIFA said that money could sustain it for 18 months if a World Cup was cancelled.

Blatter opened the Confederation of African Football assembly saying the continent should be proud of organising the World Cup which helped Africa find more pride and confidence.

Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin named the ex-player on his state committee co-ordinating the football tournament in a ceremony in a Sao Paulo stadium on Wednesday.

He also awarded Ronaldo, 34, a medal in honour of his sporting achievements and legacy.

"It's an honour to help the government of Sao Paulo to put on the best World Cup of all time," Ronaldo said.

The three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, whose goalscoring genius led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, confirmed his retirement on Monday in a tearful media conference.

He said he was forced to halt his career because his body was no longer up to the demands he was putting on it.

The striker, who played for Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, but who appeared only sporadically for Sao Paulo side Corinthians since returning from Italy in 2009, was plagued with injuries for much of his career.

He has said he hoped to wear the national Brazil jersey one more time in a farewell match "to bring together players who were with me and appear in front of a public who loved and helped me".

Ronaldo won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 and became the leading scorer in World Cup finals tournaments when he scored his 15th goal at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

He was twice named European Footballer of the Year, in 1997 and 2002, and finished his international career with 62 goals in 97 appearances.

The Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen unveiled the two-metre tall plastic replica of Paul clutching a football in his eight arms on Thursday.

The cephalopod's cremated ashes were placed in a gold-leaf-covered urn inside the football, aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig said.

Paul died three months ago of natural causes.

Fans around the world had asked for a memorial, Munzig said.

"We acted upon the wishes of fans and created a place of remembrance," Munzig told The Associated Press.

"This monument was also built to show visitors just how much people around the world loved Paul."

Paul correctly tipped the outcome of all seven of Germany's games at last year's World Cup plus the Spain-Netherlands final.

He made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag.

The oversized football that the immortalised Paul sits on is covered with different national flags and also has a small window through which visitors can look at the urn.

In addition, the aquarium created a so-called "Paul Corner" that includes newspaper clippings in many different languages that tell of Paul's global fame and exhibits gifts sent to the museum.

A family in Spain sent a glass of mussels in oil as a reward for Paul after he correctly predicted that Spain would win the World Cup, Munzig said.

A fan from New Zealand tailored a red, sleeveless football shirt for Paul - with a hole for each tentacle.

As for Paul's successor, a six-month old octopus brought from France and also named Paul, Munzig said it still isn't clear whether he will also try his tentacles at forecasting.

"We're not pushing him into being an oracle against his will, that's for sure," Munzig said.

"But if he is going to develop an interest in football and forecasting, wall be very supportive of his talents."

The president of world football's governing body, Sepp Blatter, said last week he expected Qatar's cup would be held in the northern winter, after the emirate was controversially chosen for 2022 despite its searing summer heat.

While that would represent a historic shift for the world's most popular sports event, the idea also brought about the possibility for the first time of a clash with the Winter Olympics, which is held in the same year.

"There had never been any reference to a date," a FIFA spokesperson told AFP on Thursday while confirming Blatter "expects that Qatar will be a winter World Cup".

"What he stressed is that first the request must be made by the organising committee of Qatar," the spokesperson said, insisting that talk about more specific timing was "speculative" for now.

Blatter has said the issue could be discussed at a FIFA executive committee meeting in March.

"Given that both the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and FIFA distribute revenues across the global sport industry, there is a need to ensure that a winter world cup does not negatively impact on the ability to generate revenues," said Geoff Walters, of the Birbeck Sports Business Centre at London University.

While it was bidding, Qatar outlined high tech and innovative plans for cooled stadiums for the World Cup. Its organisers showed little sign of preparing to stage the event in the cooler winter climate in the Gulf.

So far, the Winter Olympics, which are staged every four years, have been held in the northern hemisphere during the coldest or most snowbound period around February. The International Olympic Committee will choose a host for 2022 in four years.

"If it was decided that the World Cup will take place in the winter months of 2022, then FIFA will have to work with the IOC in order to avoid a clash," Walters said.

"There are a number of key stakeholders that such a clash could impact on, including the broadcasters and sponsors."

The two strikers had been the only two members of the squad not to have done so in the face of public outrage over what happened in South Africa.

"It's been sorted out and they are set to agree," Jouanno said as she came out of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

FFF president Fernand Duchaussoy announced last month that the 23-man France squad had agreed to forfeit their bonuses linked to the use of their image rights at the tournament in South Africa.

"A lot of them have signed, it's moving forward," Duchaussoy had said.

Chelsea striker Anelka is currently serving out an 18-match ban after being sent home in disgrace from the World Cup after a foul-mouthed tirade at then coach Raymond Domenech leading to his team-mates' infamous training strike.

"We haven't discussed it particularly. If there's the slightest hope it's more on Henry's side. Anelka, it would amaze me if he gives in," the source added.

Henry, France's all-time leading scorer, played a substitute's role at the World Cup and is now playing in the United States with New York Red Bulls.

Domenech was sacked after overseeing France's first-round exit but Duchaussoy said the terms of his dismissal did not include an agreement to renounce his bonus, and they 'could not prevent him' receiving it.

"He hasn't received them (bonus) but we can't use them," added the FFF boss.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and Blatter's original comments provoked anger among gay rights groups who said he should apologise or resign.

"I regret my comment, I didn't want to hurt anyone. We are against discrimination. I apologise for that comment," Blatter told a press conference in Abu Dhabi ahead of Saturday's Club World Cup.

Gay rights activists have reacted furiously after Blatter joked that gay football fans should "refrain" from sex during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.

Asked about concerns over the treatment of gay fans at the tournament, Blatter responded: "I would say that they should refrain from any sexual activities."

Blatter's remarks are just the latest example of the 74-year-old football chief putting his foot in his mouth.

He told women footballers in 2004 that the best way to make their sport more popular would be to wear "tighter shorts".

Earlier this year, he suggested John Terry's affair, which led to him being stripped of the England captaincy, would have been applauded in Latin countries.

In separate remarks on Thursday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter and general secretary Jerome Valcke said moving the Qatar matches to the northern hemisphere winter deserves study as a way to better protect players and show flexibility for future bid cities.

"FIFA's job is to have a World Cup that protects the players so we take note of the recommendations and go through the list of requirements," Blatter told journalists in Qatar in his first visit since the tiny Gulf nation was awarded the World Cup earlier this month. "We will look into this and make the right decision."

Valcke, attending the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, said that switching the schedule would make it possible for a wider range of countries to bid for the World Cup - which traditionally takes places in June and July - in the future.

"Why not? It means you open the World Cup to countries where they can never play it in June and July because it's never the right period of time," Valcke told The Associated Press. "If you can do so, it would be a solution to open the organisation of the World Cup to a number of countries in this period which is winter in Europe but not winter in the rest of the world."

Still, he said it is "not so easy" to stage a northern winter World Cup since it would require changing the international calendar - including possibly the year before and after the 2022 tournament - and getting the support of domestic leagues and national federations.

"You can't just make a decision to move the tournament and that is it," he said. "It means you have to change completely when the leagues will play, mainly I would say in Europe. It's less difficult in the rest of the world."

Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup this month despite fears that temperatures exceeding 40 Celsius pose a serious health risk to players and fans. Soon after it beat out the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea for the bidding rights, football executives started suggesting that it might be better move the 2022 tournament to January when it is much cooler in Qatar.

FIFA executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer was the first to voice the idea, and he was followed by UEFA president Michel Platini.

Valcke said Qatar has not formally requested changing the timing of the tournament and bid officials have not said anything publicly about whether they would support such a move. Until now, Qatar has only promised FIFA that stadiums, training venues and areas for fans to party will be cooled with solar-powered air conditioning.

Blatter said the decision to award Qatar the tournament - as well as sending it to Russia in 2018 - reflects the "modern World Cup" that moves into new areas.

Blatter, who was speaking in Johannesburg at a post-2010 World Cup legacy project launch, has come in for criticism in recent weeks following a decision by the world governing body to take the competition to the Middle East for the first time in 12 years' time.

Apart from the searing temperatures expected during the finals time of June and July, there could also be other problems with hosting the competition in an Islamic country.

But Blatter is confident social and religious barriers can be overcome.

Current laws mean drinking alcohol in public is forbidden, while bars and nightclubs are almost non-existent.

Another issue could be public affection, and gay groups fear problems in a country where homosexuality is illegal.

When asked about such issues, Blatter initially joked by saying: "I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities."

He then continued on a more serious note, saying: "We are definitely living in a world of freedom and I'm sure when the World Cup will be in Qatar in 2022, there will be no problems.

"You see in the Middle East the opening of this culture, it's another culture because it's another religion, but in football we have no boundaries.

"We open everything to everybody and I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings be it on this side or that side, be it left, right or whatever."

He added: "I they want to watch a match somewhere in Qatar 2022, I'm sure they will be admitted to such matches."

After a UEFA executive committee meeting in Prague on Friday, Platini said it would be easier to play the World Cup in January, instead of June.

"It's true that if we talk about the World Cup in the Gulf in January, that would be easier than to play in June," Platini said.

"On that I agree, and why not? It's possible."

Qatar was picked to host the 2022 World Cup last week, despite fears the intense heat poses a serious health risk if the tournament is played in summer.

But Platini defended the choice of Qatar, saying players already had to face extreme heat at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

"The temperature in Dallas was 45 degrees, if I'm not mistaken, in 1994 and nobody criticised the US at the time," he said.

Such a change would conflict with the schedules of the Europe's major domestic leagues plus the UEFA Champions League, and Platini said that would be among a number of issues needing to be addressed.

"How much rest time will we give to the players after the World Cup?" he asked.

"If we play in January, well, will it be a February off and then we start again in March?"

Platini said FIFA still had 12 years to solve the issue.

"We will discuss this heavily in the months and years to come."

Platini's remarks came a day after Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan said cooling down stadiums and training grounds with air conditioners was "not a solution", and warned that some European teams may boycott the World Cup due to the heat.

Qatar's summer temperature average in the low 40 degrees Celsius.

Also, FIFA executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer said this month making a one-time change to the European league fixtures to allow the World Cup to be played in winter in Qatar was a cheaper solution than air conditioning all stadiums.

At the same time, Platini was positive about Thursday's proposal by FIFA president Sepp Blatter that Qatar's neighbouring countries could host games in 2022.

"Maybe, it would be a World Cup for the entire Gulf," Platini said.

In an interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe, Blatter said Australia's failed 2022 World Cup bid proposed some games could be held in New Zealand, and that neighbouring countries of winning bid Qatar could host games in the same fashion.

"Australia, in its candidacy bid, proposed to give several matches to New Zealand," Blatter told L'Equipe.

"I think it could be the same in Qatar and that some matches could take place in nearby countries."

Blatter didn't state which countries.

FFA wouldn't comment on Blatter's statements or questions about whether the FIFA president had even read its bid book.

England, overlooked for the 2018 World Cup with FIFA preferring Russia, has been called a bad losers by Blatter and accused of showing "western arrogance".

FFA did confirm New Zealand was briefly considered in discussions two years ago but quickly ruled out without any further research into a joint bid.

The trans-Tasman neighbour was then never mentioned in Australia's proposal to host the 2022 showpiece.

"Australia's bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at no stage included holding games in New Zealand," FFA head of media relations Rod Allen said in a statement.

"The bid proposal included in the bid book submitted to FIFA clearly centred on holding the event in 12 stadiums in ten host cities - all of them in Australia.

"There was a brief discussion about New Zealand when the bid was first conceived two years ago but that option was quickly dismissed."

After receiving a glowing technical report from FIFA, Australia only received one vote in Zurich and was knocked out in the first round.

Qatar was heavily criticised by FIFA for its heat and small size, yet still won the right to host the event ahead of Australia, Japan, United States, and South Korea.

Blatter vehemently denied allegations of corruption within FIFA and defended the decision as a move to expand the game and that the next regions FIFA must look to are the world's two most populous nations, China and India.

"With Qatar, we are opening football to a new world and a new culture," Blatter said in L'Equipe.

"The Arab world, which has tried several times - with Morocco or Egypt for example - to host the World Cup, could legitimately lay claim to hosting this."

Blatter said finance was not a primary motivation for awarding the tournament to Qatar.

"If we had wanted to make money, we would have gone to the United States," Blatter said.

"You must not forget that they (Qatar) have been making efforts for a while and have already hosted FIFA competitions like the under-20 World Cup."

Qatar was designated the 2022 World Cup last week, despite fears the intense heat poses a serious health risk if the tournament is played in summer.

In an interview with sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday, Blatter said Australia's 2022 World Cup bid proposed some matches could be held in New Zealand, and Qatar could likewise have neighbouring countries host games. He didn't say which countries.

"Australia, in its candidacy bid, proposed to give several matches to New Zealand," Blatter told L'Equipe. "I think it could be the same in Qatar and that some matches could take place in nearby countries."

FIFA was right to award Qatar the World Cup, Blatter reiterated, because football needs to expand from its traditional strongholds.

"With Qatar, we are opening football to a new world and a new culture," Blatter said. "The Arab world, which has tried several times - with Morocco or Egypt for example - to host the World Cup, could legitimately lay claim to hosting this."

Qatar also beat Japan, United States, and South Korea to win.

Qatar has huge financial means to ensure a state-of-the art cooling system in stadiums and training grounds to combat desert heat. Ruled by the Al Thani family, the tiny Gulf nation has committed $42.9 billion for infrastructure upgrades and $4 billion to build nine stadiums and renovate three others. All the stadiums plan to keep temperatures at about 27 degrees Celsius (81 Fahrenheit).

Blatter says finance was not a primary motivation for awarding the tournament to Qatar.

"If we had wanted to make money, we would have gone to the United States," Blatter said. "You must not forget that they (Qatar) have been making efforts for a while and have already hosted FIFA competitions" like the under-20 World Cup.

Peter Velappan, the AFC general secretary for three decades, said on Thursday that cooling down stadiums and training grounds with air conditioners was "not a solution" and warned that some European teams may boycott the World Cup due to the heat.

Qatar's summer temperature can top 40 degrees Celsius.

"Qatar is a nice country ... but there is no way football can be played in June and July there. No player will ever want to play in these conditions," he told The Associated Press.

"I would strongly recommend that FIFA reschedule the tournament to January, February. ... FIFA is obliged to do everything possible to provide the best for the teams and the football fans."

Velappan's comments echoed those of FIFA executive committee Franz Beckenbauer, who said earlier this month that making a one-time change to the European league fixtures to allow the World Cup to be played in winter in Qatar was a cheaper solution than air conditioning all stadiums.

However, AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam - a Qatar native - downplayed the hot temperatures throughout the country's bid for the World Cup.

FIFA is breaking new grounds by sending the World Cup to Eastern Europe and Middle East for the first time, with Russia to host the 2018 games followed by Qatar.

Velappan said he believes Russia "will deliver a good World Cup" because it has resources but hopes Qatar's heat issue can be resolved.

"FIFA's decision cannot be revoked. Therefore, the world has to live with it and hope both Qatar and Russia can hold World Cups of which we can all be proud," he added.

And Blatter says the next regions FIFA must look to are the world's two most populous nations, China and India.

The FIFA boss provided fierce backing of world football's governing body in an interview with a Swiss magazine in the wake of last week's controversial votes to give Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively.

"I'll say it clearly: there is no systematic corruption at FIFA. That's nonsense," Blatter told weekly Weltwoche. "We are financially clean and transparent."

He also came out swinging at English critics, slamming them for reacting like arrogant bad losers after England missed out in the 2018 race to Russia.

Blatter defended FIFA for choosing the riskiest, most expensive bids, which saw the World Cup hosting rights awarded to Eastern Europe and the Middle East for the first time.

Qatar was chosen despite getting the worst technical report for its bid and concerns raised about the fierce summer heat there.

"It's my philosophy to drive forward the expansion of football. The next regions that we need to conquer would be China and India," Blatter said.

"Football has become a political matter. Heads of state court me. Football has become a monster, but it's a positive monster."

He also dismissed suggestions that FIFA officials are tempted to cash in on football's global importance.

"Nobody can come along and simply hold out their hand," he said.

"There are no rotten eggs."

FIFA's ethics court suspended two of Blatter's executive committee colleagues from taking part in last Thursday's votes after a British newspaper alleged bribe-taking and vote-rigging.

Blatter then reminded FIFA voters immediately before polling, of media "evils" during the World Cup campaign.

Within 24 hours of FIFA inflicting a humiliating rejection, officials from England's 2018 bid also accused several voters of breaking promises of support they gave to a lobbying team that included Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Blatter said he was surprised by the reaction in England, which he called "the motherland of fair play."

"Now some of them are proving to be bad losers themselves," he said.

"I sense in some reactions a little bit of arrogance of the western, Christian kind."

Leaders of Australia's defeated 2022 bid also cited broken promises after they followed England in another first-round elimination.

Three days before the vote, Britain's state broadcaster, the BBC, and newspapers in Switzerland and Germany alleged that three long-standing members of FIFA's ruling committee took kickbacks from its former marketing partner in the 1990s.

Blatter singled out the case of Issa Hayatou, the president of African football's governing body.

"He was portrayed as criminal by the media, because his federation supposedly took $25,000. I can tell you: Hayatou is the son of a sultan and hasn't done anything wrong," he said.

Blatter dismissed the payments - allegedly also received by Brazilian football leader Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz, the South American confederation president - as insignificant.

"Fifteen years ago, there were apparently payments to foreign FIFA officials that weren't even illegal at the time and were even tax deductible," he said, adding that since 2006 the ethics panel monitored officials' behaviour.

While defending FIFA's system of choosing World Cup hosts, Blatter said the organisation he has led for 12 years would now "look inward" before making changes.

"We can't go on like this. We need to improve our image," he said."We also need to set some things straight inside FIFA."

"It's a political decision to open up onto the world. It was the same thing with (2010) hosts South Africa," Valcke said on Monday.

"We have eight years until Russia hosts it, with a huge commitment on the part of (Prime Minister Vladimir) Putin, and 12 for Qatar, who have huge resources," said Valcke in response to questions as to the technical merits of the two countries, which FIFA did not find to be on the same level as, for example, those of 2018 candidate England.

England's bid campaigners expressed astonishment at being eliminated in the first round in Zurich last week with just two of 22 FIFA executive committee votes.

If the poor English performance and Russia's elevation to host city for 2018 surprised some, there was also astonishment in many quarters at Qatar's selection for 2022 given that the tiny country is predominantly desert and will be boiling hot in June and July.

Valcke admitted "as regards the heat in Qatar, the fears are legitimate but there will be air conditioning systems.

"Qatar will do everything necessary so that nothing is to the detriment of either the players or anyone else.

"Russia deserves it and Qatar will be an interesting story. The Middle East is part of the football family," Valcke said.

Regarding allegations of corruption at the heart of FIFA, Valcke said the game's governing body had "reacted immediately" to The Sunday Times revelations by suspending two members of its executive committee amid allegations of bribery.

Valcke stressed that the BBC investigation - broadcast just days before the vote - into another three committee members was "reheated stuff which belongs on the History Channel.

"Legally, the matter is closed," he said, alluding to a previous Swiss legal investigation a decade ago.

Regarding English complaints that the voting system aids collusion and secrecy, Valcke said: "It is normal for there to be a secret ballot. If there is to be a reform of the voting system, then it will be for the executive committee to decide."

He said FIFA "has nothing to blush about".

Turning to the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014, Valcke noted the new Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, was fully behind the project after succeeding Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

He did, however, admit to concerns on progress on stadium construction.

"But a stadium is a matter of 24 months. You have to push - and we are used to that from (our experience with) South Africa."

"Before we went in to the voting, we had six votes that we were assured of,” Hargitay, employed by the Australian bid team to gain access to FIFA powerbrokers and strategise for votes, said in an extensive one-on-one interview with The World Game's Les Murray.

“We needed at least five to survive the first round. We always knew that the first round was going to be the crucial round.

"Of the six votes, we had one left and that one vote was claimed by two people, so you tell me what is honesty.”

Hargitay added that Australia's Australia's biggest mistake was "playing it clean" during the failed bid.

"I'm just telling you that Frank Lowy's motto from the outset was: 'Guys, we're going to fight, we're going to do our best, we're going to see everybody once, twice, three times.

"We're going to fly around the world, we'll do everything we possibly can, we're going to do the best possible bid, but there will be no inducement.

"There will be nothing paid to anybody'.

“The most fundamental mistake Australia made, and there can be no other way, is that we played it clean,” he declared.

“You go figure it out. What do you think? What do you think motivates people, 14 of them, to vote for a country the population of Zurich, to vote for a country that is the size of Fiji, to vote for a country where the infrastructure to play host to millions of fans still has to be created."

"You go figure, how can 14 men make that decision?"

"I did give advice, I believe my advice was right," he said.

"I believe we did not lose because we did the wrong thing.

"We made mistakes, but we didn't make such a big mistake that would warrant this kind of result."

:: Don't miss Peter Hargitay on The World Game, Monday, 9.30pm, SBS TWO and streamed LIVE online.

In the tell-all interview, Hargitay says Australia was lied to by members of the FIFA Executive Committee and claims Australia was promised six votes by the FIFA Executive Committee, yet walked away with just one.

“Before we went into the voting, we had six votes that we were assured of," says Hargitay.

“We needed at least five to survive the first round. We always knew that the first round was going to be the crucial round.

"Of the six votes, we had one left and that one vote was claimed by two people, so you tell me what is honesty.”

Join Les, Craig Foster and Francis Awaritefe for a comprehensive review of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting announcements, including a breakdown and analysis of the votes and the state of the game in Australia moving forward from the decision.

The show will also feature:

Thousands of flights were cancelled across Europe this week, the blast of Arctic conditions causing transport chaos across the continent.

But it seems particularly cruel on shellshocked members of Australia's bid team after being so badly done over by members of FIFA's executive committee.

Following the country's embarrassing early exit in the 2022 FIFA World Cup voting, they would have been among the most desperate to skip town.

But instead of being able to rely on a scheduled departure after picking up only one of the 22 votes on offer, Football Federation Australia officials were forced to hang around a bit longer in Zurich.

The city's airport remained open on Friday but flights were limited.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter this week described Zurich as the city of football in the final moments before he announced the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.

It would have been hard for the remaining members of the bid team to feel such warmth on another bone-chilling day in Zurich on Friday.

The flight cancellations mean the Australian team will return in dribs and drabs.

The final remaining members of the party, that were due to head home, were expected back by Tuesday Australian time.

Their irritation came as the backlash continued following FIFA's controversial decision to name Russia and Qatar as the nations to stage the 2018 and 2022 tournaments respectively.

England is still fuming after only receiving two votes and being bounced out in the first round of the 2018 count.

It prompted acting FA chairman Roger Burden to take the emotive step of standing down in protest, stating he couldn't do the job as he did not trust FIFA.

It continued attempts to put pressure on FIFA to reform its voting procedures that have been dogged by corruption and claims of vote-swapping.

"I am not prepared to deal with people whom I cannot trust," Burden said.

The Australian camp has so far managed to maintain its grace. That is despite the humiliating result and the levels of deception within FIFA's corridors of power in Zurich.

The English have not been so subtle with former Socceroos coach Terry Venables launching a blistering attack in the British press.

"Maybe we should not be that surprised Russia got the vote to stage the 2018 World Cup," he said.

"After all, FIFA and the KGB are just about the last two secret organisations on the planet."

"... it is a great shame. A shame for England. A shame for football. And shame on FIFA."

England's bid chief Andy Anson said there was no point putting in a bid under the current system.

"They have to take a look at their processes, and now we will find out if they are big enough to do it," he said.

Played like a fiddle by FIFA. Misled and lied to. And taken in by their own arrogance.

Perhaps the biggest lesson of all to come out of the shambles of Zurich is the need for humility.

That is not a commodity one often associates with a country which is fond of reminding everyone who will listen that it gave the world its most popular game.

It is also perhaps one of the reasons why England polled just two votes and were knocked out in round one in the race to stage the World Cup in 2018.

Such a devastating defeat suggests the FIFA committee members had decided where their votes were heading long before Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William jumped aboard the hype-fest in Zurich.

Long before David Beckham told the story about his grandfather and a 27-year-old in Eddie Afekafe, who works on Manchester City's community programs, brought a human touch by explaining how football had changed his life.

The lesson for England is obvious.

You do not win votes by trawling out big names and giving glitzy presentations. Those will not turn the tide of opinion.

Not when FIFA was so obviously set on taking the world's most prestigious tournament to pastures new such as 2018 winner Russia and 2022 victor Qatar, the latter with its suffocating heat, 1.7 million population and lack of infrastructure.

The bottom line for FIFA is that the best stadia do not matter and passion is an irrelevance. So is tradition and good budgeting.

As for the smokescreen that the English media lost the bid. Of course the Sunday Times cash-for-votes expose had an effect. So did the BBC's Panorama revelations, which sought to expose corruption.

But better a free press than a World Cup delivered by kowtowing to dodgy characters from even dodgier states.

The Prime Minister and the future king, one suspects, will think long and hard before ever again getting involved in the convoluted politics of FIFA.

But the one glaring fact that stands at the root of England's failure is the fact that the entire bid team never grasped what was required to win World Cup 2018.

England thought it was impressing by boasting about Wembley and its magnificent stadia. By claiming English football as the best on the planet. By extolling the passion of its supporters.

The reality was the opposite. It was alienating poorer nations and delegates from countries with fewer natural resources.

And when, in a last desperate attempt to get the bid on track, it wheeled out real and footballing royalty in the shape of Prince William and David Beckham with Prime Minister David Cameron flying back and forth, England's fate was sealed.

England thought it could impress by glitter and egos. It was wrong, just as it was 10 years ago when, in the fight for the 2006 finals, the FA reneged on an agreement to give Germany a clear run in return for its support in bringing Euro 96 to the UK.

England polled just five votes then while Germany claimed the prize.

Put bluntly England's bidding technique was misguided. It failed to recognise that FIFA president Sepp Blatter was on a crusade, a lucrative one, to take the World Cup to remote parts while keeping the likes of England sweet just in case it was needed to stand in at a moment's notice.

England was played by FIFA. And it lost. Just as embarrassingly as the team did at South Africa 2010 at the hands of Germany.

The master at the negotiating table even ended up looking a tad naive in his dealings with members of FIFA's ruling panel.

He entered FIFA's home with confidence that Australia had a good shot at hosting the 2022 World Cup. He expected to win the vote in Zurich.

By the end of the day he had come to the realisation that all of the smiles and handshakes, dare it be said promises, of the 22 members counted for almost nothing.

Well, one vote. One measly vote. After three years of intense lobbying of FIFA powerbrokers, a glowing technical bid review, and being armed with consultants from successful bids, it seemed far from fair.

Australia fell for the oldest trick in the FIFA book, believing votes were assured that clearly weren't.

"I did think that we had support and I did think that we had a fair chance," Lowy said before the voting result was made public and the full extent of the defeat became clear.

"I said that several times, I said it before it is not a lay down misere it is a very tough competition and a very serious contest.

"Harder than I thought it would be.

"I expected to be smiling here today and giving a press conference for a winner."

It is a demonstration of the difficulties in dealing with football's governing body that a man who built a $25 billion empire from scratch could be played.

But this is FIFA. One of the voting members once promised Nelson Mandela his vote before deciding to change allegiances.

Mandela eventually secured the vote but if someone is prepared to switch on him, well, what hope for the rest of the world.

Lowy was still publicly referring to the voting members as his "friends" post-announcement, even if privately he was burning.

The Australian team was shocked and stunned when the news filtered through it had received one vote, exiting even before 2002 co-hosts Japan and South Korea.

But they showed grace in defeat.

It took Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley time to take it in, with the news filtering through as he fronted the media.

After being briefed by his media manager on the spot, a rattled Buckley spoke in textbook corporate speak.

But what he was trying to say was, we got dudded.

"We were of the understanding that we had more support than that," he said.

"Certainly all the discussions that we have had would have us believe and led us to believe confidently that we had more support than we had."

When asked if people had lied to the faces of the Australian delegation, he replied: "I don't like to use those words."

They weren't alone.

Prince William and David Beckham are understood to have been promised a vote for England by a committee member on Wednesday night only for him to swap horses on Thursday as England suffered a similarly harsh defeat in the 2018 hosting race.

If Zurich's sub-zero temperatures weren't sobering enough for Australia's team, it was prospect of returning home to the daily grind next week.

"We will regroup in the office on Monday," Buckley said.

That will be one tough day at the office.

Wenger was an official supporter of the England 2018 bid and a video message from him was shown to FIFA committee members as part of the final bid presentation.

But the Arsenal manager insisted FIFA must now drag its decision-making process in to the 21st century after England's bid received just two votes and Russia was awarded the tournament.

Wenger said: "I'm very sad because I supported that bid as much as I could.

"I am sad for the people who have a passion in England for football. I don't believe FIFA was conscious of how much it meant to people here. I watched as well how much the people worked for this bid and they put some unbelievable quality work in."

Wenger believes future World Cups must be allocated on a more scientific basis, taking in the relative merits of the technical bids.

He said: "It looked to me a little bit of a Middle Age way to decide. You would like to have much more technical criteria than human criteria.

"You could have 100 criteria for example with a different weight and you put that in a computer and the best comes out.

"It doesn't look right in modern life that people have to go over there and lobby and say 'please believe in us.' I would like to see it be more technical.

"You have to work in the modern life to get all suspicion out. Is the suspicion right or wrong I don't know, but you don't want a vote of that importance to be the subject of suspicion."

Wenger was mystified at how England could poll just two votes from the 22 FIFA members.

"I personally cannot understand that," said Wenger. "I was a great supporter of that bid. You have to take it on board and get on with it.

"It has not been played here for a long, long time and this country created the sport. That's why I say you should have 100 criteria, the technical, commercial, the fact that the country never had the competition before could be one of them and give them a different weight and decide.

"That criteria cannot be the only one that is taken into consideration before a decision of that magnitude is made. Russia is a good candidate and congratulations to them. But we all do not know why the England bid has failed so much."

On the effect of the media investigations into FIFA members, Wenger added: "Did it help? Certainly not."

From London to Tokyo, from Washington to Madrid, newspapers were singing from the same hymn sheet with claims of corruption and the power of petrodollars over traditional footballing values.

The English media led the protest, claiming Thursday's vote in Zurich in which England's 2018 bid mustered only two votes out of 22 - was rigged.

"Fixed!" screamed an outraged Sun in its headline.

"Russia, a mafia state rotten to the core with corruption; Qatar a medieval kingdom with no freedom of speech; Both are swimming in oil money," the tabloid Daily Mirror splashed across its front page.

"How on earth did they persuade the dodgy fat cats at FIFA to give them the World Cup? SOLD."

In The Times, an editorial claimed: "The system of World Cup elections is abysmally corrupt. It is too small, making it easily manipulated, and it is too secret, protecting it from scrutiny."

There was a similar reaction in Spain, which lost out to Russia in its joint bid with Portugal.

The centre-right El Mundo ran the headline: "The power of gas and oil."

"Russia and Qatar, with projects that were technically very weak but with huge fortunes, win 2018 and 2022 respectively," it said.

The Netherlands, joint bidders with Belgium, was equally scathing.

Dutch daily AD wrote: "With Russia and Qatar, FIFA has chosen its guarantees in gold and oil," suggesting that FIFA's Zurich headquarters would be "swimming in banknotes".

"The Netherlands and Belgium were under the impression that FIFA would be sensitive to the ecological nature of their bid," the paper said in an editorial.

"With Qatar, FIFA has chosen an attack on the environment, for a World Cup in air-conditioned stadiums consuming enormous amounts of energy."

Left-leaning daily Volkskrant suggested FIFA had opted for the "the least democratic of the nine candidates".

"Welcome to Russia: corrupt and with no future" was the inside headline in another publication, NRC next.

"In eight years the football World Cup will be held in an authoritarian country where nothing changes."

Japan lost out in its bid for 2022, and business daily Nikkei reckoned the bid had also been scuppered by money.

"Qatar, which has never qualified for the World Cup finals, had a weapon in its abundant financial resources based on oil money," it said.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper said FIFA must have found Japan's "next-generation World Cup", complete with virtual stadia, lacking.

"There were (FIFA) executives who thought real stadia are more important," it said.

A similar sentiment of shock and dismay was to be found in the US media after the United States' 2022 bid bit the dust.

"Qatar? Really?," wrote The Seattle Times.

"FIFA, world's soccer's governing body, thumbed its nose at the United States' bid on Thursday and awarded the 2022 World Cup to soccer-poor, oil-rich Qatar... All this announcement does is fuel the already-existing suspicions of collusion that have haunted the entire bid process."

The Wall Street Journal said FIFA's secret vote "came amid allegations of kickbacks, bribes and collusion," adding: "Safe to say that ambitions to popularize the 'beautiful game' in the US aren't helped by the spectacle."

Time Magazine said the results reflected "geopolitical trends".

"Both Russia and Qatar are ruled by strong, uncompromising governments - one steered by post-Soviet apparatchiks with the tacit backing of a tycoon oligarchy, and the other the hereditary bequest of a family that can trace itself back to pre-Islamic times," Time said.

Even in Russia the mood was not all champagne and roses as local media questioned whether the country could afford to host the marquee event.

While Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin put the cost at around $US10 billion ($A10.27 billion), some commentators warned the eventual bill could be nearer five times that amount.

"The example of the Sochi Olympics proves that whatever numbers the government gives, they should not be considered final," Kommersant newspaper wrote.

"One could accept any expenses if their structure was transparent and the project's financing controllable," wrote Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily.

Gorman on Friday said he was "disappointed but heartened" by the outpouring of emotion following FIFA's controversial decision to award the tournament to Qatar.

He admitted hosting the World Cup would have been a "turbo charge" for the A-League but said planning for the future of the competition did not depend on staging the showpiece event.

"There's no doubt it would have been a wonderful light at the end of the tunnel, no doubt about that," Gorman told AAP.

"But have we built an A-League business plan around that? No.

"In the last few months we've been doing a total strategic review of the A-League and engaging all stake holders ... and we've been building a platform that certainly didn't rely on success in the World Cup bid underpinning the future direction the A-League would take."

Displaying enviable optimism, Gorman was not only confident Australian football would not lose momentum but believed publicity generated by the unsuccessful bid could attract new fans to the sport.

"It's brought a focus on our game," Gorman said.

"There's not a person I've come across in Australia that's not aware of the World Cup bid and the A-League.

"So in terms of taking away momentum, it's just put a tremendous focus on our game which is healthy.

"The grass roots football numbers in Australia haven't changed overnight, the passion and support of our corporate partners of our members of our fans base hasn't changed, it's the same as it was and if anything this could well direct more people to our game because the tremendous profiling and focus it's had on it."

Gorman said the decision would have no impact on pressing A-League matters including the future of embattled North Queensland Fury and the possible inclusion of new franchise Sydney Rovers next season.

Former Socceroos striker John Aloisi, whose famous spot-kick in the play-off against Uruguay ensured Australia a spot in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, admitted he was stunned by Qatar's success in the bidding process.

Multi-lingual Aloisi was heavily involved in the Australian bid as a bid ambassador, and also featured in videos promoting the nation's merits to host the World Cup.

While Australia enjoys winter when the tournament would have been held, temperatures in Qatar in June and July soar into the mid-40s daily, and only drop to the high 20s or low 30s at night.

"The conditions in Qatar - they've got the air-conditioned stadiums - but I don't know what the spectators are going to do during the day in 45 degree heat," said Melbourne Heart's Aloisi.

"They won't be able to set foot outside, they'll have to stay indoors. It's a tough one but I'm sure they'll make it work.

Aloisi admitted he was devastated Australia missed out, effectively ending any realistic chance of hosting the tournament until at least 2034 - and most likely longer.

"Bitterly disappointed is an understatement," Aloisi said.

"We've got the country, we've got the infrastructure, we've got the people, we've hosted a great Olympics.

"I thought everything was positive for us and we had a massive chance of getting it.

"Now we have to look at winning a World Cup before we host one, because we won't be hosting one for a while."

Football Federation Australia's coaching director Han Berger said the game has been dealt a blow by the lost bid, but he's confident about the future of Australian football led by a new generation of highly-skilled young players.

"The development of the game will continue maybe with smaller steps forward but the philosophy will not change," said Berger.

"Australia and the FFA really want to become a top nation in football and there is no other way than starting with training programs from a young age and developing the special players."

Dutchman Berger's job is to ensure that happens.

FFA has been rolling out elite training programs across the country to identify Australia's best soccer talents early and set them on a path toward the Socceroos.

Berger said the first step was the Skilleroos program for 10-14 year olds, which recently kicked off in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Newcastle and will start in Sydney in February.

"This is just the beginning," said Berger, who was previously charged with developing youth teams in the Netherlands.

"We will grow this program all across Australia (so) the kids can get the proper foundation, the proper skills," he said.

From the Skilleroos, the FFA mapped out a path to see the best players through the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), the Young Socceroos, the Olyroos and then into the Socceroos.

Berger said Australia lacks technical training because of a focus on 'winning at all costs' from the start.

"Because of this mentality, at a young age there is a tendency to identify and select strong, fast and big kids," he said.

"Maybe in the traditional Australian culture the physical component is the decisive one but not in football.

"In football the most technically proficient players decide the games."

If FFA's programs work as planned, come 2022, the Socceroos may not have a home ground advantage, but they could just carry off the World Cup trophy.

Marios Lefkaritis, the FIFA executive member from Cyprus, said the feedback from other members was that the media investigations had been a factor - something the England bid leaders deny.

Lefkaritis told Bloomberg: "In the beginning I thought not, but after the experience I got from other members, then I have to say definitely yes.

"If they [the bid] think they did not, then they are stupid and naive."

England bid chief executive Andy Anson said as many as five or six of the FIFA members had promised their vote in meetings with Prince William, David Cameron, David Beckham and bid officials only to break those guarantees.

Anson said: "They are saying to us that our media killed us but I don't believe that for one minute, but that's what we are being told.

"My only issue with the Sunday Times and more the BBC Panorama was the timing of it - it was almost impossible to bounce back.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush: individual members promised to vote for us and didn't, clearly.

"That's difficult to stomach when they have given you assurances.

"We thought on the upside we would get seven or eight but not that five or six would leave us, that's quite a big percentage of the ones we had been promised."

Among those thought to have given their assurances include FIFA vice-president Jack Warner of Trinidad, who voted as part of a three-man bloc with the United States and Guatemala members.

Anson said: "I think they probably did vote as a bloc, but not for us sadly."

Another broken promise came from Turkey's Senes Erzik, a long-time friend of FIFA member Geoff Thompson. Before the vote the England bid received information from the Foreign Office that Turkish diplomatic sources had said Erzik would not support England.

Thompson asked him for assurances just an hour before the vote, and received them. Afterwards, Erzik said merely: "It was nothing personal, just business."

Those who emerged with more credit were African president Issa Hayatou who apparently did honour his pledge, Japan's Junji Ogura, who explained before the vote he had agreed to vote instead for Netherlands/Belgium, and even FIFA president Sepp Blatter who made no secret of his support for the eventual winner Russia.

Sorokin's English counterpart Andy Anson advised against England bidding to stage a World Cup while the voting process remains the same, with England's bid securing only two votes from the 22-man FIFA executive committee and losing out in the first round.

Sorokin did not comment on the English bid directly but was surprised by the negativity towards FIFA, insisting everyone knew how the ballot would work from the outset.

He told Sky Sports News: "When you, at the beginning of the process, sign up to a certain set of rules you have to abide by them - without any comments, without any doubts.

"If you agree on the rules of the game you have to follow them and it's very late now to comment on something you have to live by during the whole process."

Asked whether Russia's success was the result of some persuasive late lobbying, Sorokin added: "You do not win a bid like this by doing something at the last minute.

"You have to acquire sympathy and a good attitude towards you throughout the process and it took us, like everybody else, a year and a half.

"I'm not comparing (Russia's bid with England), you know that I could not. I can only tell you that we worked hard, we managed to secure the support of our government and the messages of support from our prime minister came across very well during the process.

"We put together a good technical plan and we managed to persuade FIFA and the football community that the World Cup in Russia would really make a difference in the history of football and leave a lasting legacy.

"In short it is going to be a very hospitable, a very warm and a very well-organised World Cup. I'm sure that fans from all over the world will feel at home in my country."

Sorokin also rejected any suggestion of collusion from the Russian bid with any of the bidders for the 2022 tournament, which was awarded to Qatar.

Australia was surprisingly eliminated in the first round with just one vote as Qatar sealed the deal in the final round with 14 votes to the United States' eight.

Neill, who was part of the delegation in Zurich, said he was proud of the bidding team and vowed to win the Asian Cup at next month's tournament in Qatar.

"This is hard to take but as a player I am now even more determined to bring a smile back to our faces," he said.

"We can do this in one simple way, going to Qatar in January for the AFC Asian Cup and returning home as champions.

"Australians are known as fighters and we will pick ourselves up and look at the positives and there are plenty of those around football in Australia right now."

Australia begin its campaign on January 10 against India before matches against Korea Republic and Bahrain complete their group phase.

It will be the second time the Socceroos will compete in Asia's biggest showpiece following their debut in the 2007 event in Southeast Asia where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Japan.

Australia's bid to stage the world biggest sporting event in 2022 suffered a painful defeat when it managed to secure only one of 22 votes and went out in the first round as tiny Gulf state Qatar triumphed.

The result in Zurich was a body blow to the bid team led by Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy and CEO Ben Buckley and sports minister Mark Arbib.

But the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), the peak body for the inbound tourism industry, urged them not to be deterred.

"The industry's disappointed, but the lesson of the 2000 Olympics was if at first you don't succeed, try, try again," said ATEC managing director Matt Hingerty.

"We had two goes at the Olympics before we got Sydney up, and I hope the authorities behind the Australian bid pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try again."

Mr Hingerty doesn't believe there'll be any real cost to the industry despite the disappointment.

"From a morale point of view there'll be disappointment over the foregone investment into tourism, but we're an optimistic industry, we'll brush ourselves off and get on with it."

Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) boss Christopher Brown said there was a strong argument for the federal government to establish a national events organisation, Tourism Events Australia, solely devoted to bidding for, and coordinating international events.

Similar bodies at state level have enjoyed some significant success.

"Major events such as the World Cup are key drivers of international visitors and the creation of new employment opportunities," Mr Brown said.

"They also work across more than one city or state jurisdiction and require national coordination.

"We also need a federally-funded National Events Legacy Fund to be used to bolster major events to ensure there is a tourism legacy for many years after the show has left town."

Mr Hingerty said the benefits from a major sporting event like the World Cup were massive and Australia hade to keep trying to win the tournament.

"The World Cup is a fantastic event for youth, especially backpackers and one of the reasons that market has been down in Australia this year is because of the World Cup in South Africa.

"A lot of young people who would normally have come to Australia went to South Africa instead.

"Probably one of the less-understood benefits of an event like this is that it gives young people a reason to visit you for the first time and if they have a good time, hopefully they'll keep coming back."

Thousands converged on the corniche and other public places in Doha in an outburst of joy following the announcement in Zurich that Qatar would play host in 12 years to football's showpiece event, a first for an Arab country.

"Qatar places the Middle East (football) on the world map," Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the country's Al-Jazeera television.

Shortly before the announcement, Sheikh Saud had said "we won the challenge to compete with the big countries."

In winning, the Qataris saw off bids by the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Qatar is ranked No.113 in the current FIFA world rankings. Unless it has a dramatic upturn in fortunes before Russia in 2018 it will become the first World Cup host never to have previously appeared in the finals.

As host, it will automatically qualify.

Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and his wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Masnad, were in Switzerland to head the country's delegation.

Crowds watching the live broadcast on giant television screens at home seemed to be one with them, when the announcement was made.

They burst into chants of "Qatar, Qatar" following the announcement by FIFA head Sepp Blatter.

Streets around the corniche in Doha became gridlocked just minutes later, and younger fans blew plastic vuvuzela horns that deafened spectators during this year's World Cup in South Africa.

"I cannot express my feelings," said Mohammed al-Kaldi, unable to hold back his tears of joy. "I cannot believe that it was announced."

Ashraf Jaber, a 34-year-old Egyptian who works in Doha, said that "by hosting the World Cup, Qatar will honour all Arabs."

That was echoed by the head of Kuwait's football federation in Aden, Yemen, where a regional football tournament is underway.

The choice of Qatar is a "success for all the Gulf region, and above all for Arabs," said Sheikh Talal al-Fahd.

Mohammed Khalfan al-Rimithi, his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates, said Qatar, "which has already organised major sports events, is going to succeed with excellence in hosting the 2022 World Cup."

Robert Khoury, a 25-year-old Lebanese living in Qatar, said "the chance to watch the World Cup from Qatar will be unrivalled."

The championship "will have economic repercussions, and will generate prosperity for all" the inhabitants of Qatar, he said.

"We are all for Qatar," read one colourful streamer raised by young residents of different nationalities.

In their bid to host the championship, the Qataris had sought to counter FIFA's key concerns - about security, the heat and the legacy of more than a dozen new stadiums in the small nation, in a presentation that nonetheless lacked star power.

"Qatar is a reliable partner, Qatar is constant and Qatar is responsible," said Sheikh Hamad, who added that it would show "a new face of the Middle East and ... dialogue between peoples."

The bid committee outlined projects for cooled and modular stadiums that would be dismantled and transferred to developing countries afterwards, playing to world football chiefs stated quest for "legacy" with each major event.

"From Doha to Damascus, the hope for a generation of youth will be shown not to be an elusive dream," concluded the emir's wife.

Qatar, a major oil producer and enormously rich in gas reserves but with a population of just 1.7 million inhabitants, has emerged in recent years as a major host of international sports and cultural events.

It hosted the Asian Games in 2006 and will stage the Asian Cup, the region's top football event, in January.

"I think it was the wrong decision," Obama said at the White House, joining thousands of disappointed Americans who watched the announcement from Zurich, where a video message from him had been part of the US presentation.

"Obviously we're very disappointed. To come up short is very difficult to take," said US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, who called the defeat "a setback in moving the sport forward" in a long-sceptical US market.

"Hosting in 2022 was the equivalent of putting your foot on the accelerator. From that point it's an opportunity lost.

"Will we get there? I'm confident we will. It's going to take longer. It's going to take more work."

It was the second major sport bid loss for Americans in as many years. Obama attended last year's International Olympic Committee vote on the 2016 Summer Games site when his home town, Chicago, was ousted on the first ballot.

Only minutes after Qatar was announced as FIFA's choice for 2022, frustrated US supporters vented their feelings on US Soccer's Twitter site.

"Gutted", "USA Soccer is set back another 20 years" and "Qatar? Wow. Soccer actually just got less relevant in the US" were among the shocked reactions.

In the wake of a recent FIFA bribery allegations, fans were less than thrilled about losing the chance to host for the second time.

"Qatar? Time to stop playing along. They can come to us when they want us to care about soccer again. They can bribe us next time," tweeted one angry fan.

In 1994, the US World Cup set a record by selling 3,587,538 tickets for 52 matches and sparked the launch of Major League Soccer, which has survived for 15 years and lured England star David Beckham to play in Los Angeles.

The MLS website featured several posts along the lines of "FIFA=corruption" and "If anyone needed confirmation that the whole process is rigged, there ya go".

US television commentators played up the heat projections and relatively small land area for Qatar and quickly relegated coverage of the World Cup selection behind basketball and American football.

Alexi Lalas, a former US star who handled commentary on ESPN's US telecast of the FIFA announcement, brought up the idea that Qatar might need a back-up host site only moments after the choice was revealed.

"If Qatar can't do it, it's coming right to the United States," he said. "The United States is waiting in the wings."

The United States acted as a fill-in host for the 2003 Women's World Cup after planned host China was struck by a SARS epidemic.

Lalas guarded against US fans becoming too downcast.

"The sky is not falling," he said. "You dust yourself up. Onward and upward. It has never been an easy road for US Soccer. This just continues that."

Ms Gillard and Sport Minister Mark Arbib, in a joint press statement on Friday after the decision, congratulated Qatar onits successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

"Australia put the best bid possible forward and everyone associated should be extremely proud of their efforts," the statement said.

Canberra contributed $45 million towards Football Federation Australia's bid.

Ms Gillard said Australia was disappointed to not have been awarded the hosting rights, adding the bid received bi-partisan support from the federal parliament and each state and territory government.

"Hours of effort were put into ensuring Australia put forward a technically excellent, credible and responsible bid against enormous competition," the statement said.

"It is through these efforts that we came so close to the ultimate prize."

However soon after Ms Gillard's statement was released it was revealed that Australia's was the first bid rejected, eliminated in the first round of voting by the 22 members of the FIFA executive committee.

Bids from the United States and Australia had been fancied to emerge as victors but FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed that the emirate had come out on top in the vote by the world governing body's 22-man executive committee.

There had been concerns over staging the tournament in Qatar, especially as temperatures can rise to 50 degrees Celsius during the months of June and July.

But the bid team plans to control temperatures inside the grounds, which will be zero carbon emitting.

Al-Thani believes the tournament offers the whole region a fantastic opportunity.

"On behalf of millions of people living in the Middle East, thank you," he said.

"Thank you for believing in us, thank you for having such bold vision. Thank you also for acknowledging this is the right time for the Middle East.

"We have a date with history which is summer 2022.

"We acknowledge there is a lot of work to do and we stand by our promise and we will honour the sacred trust given to us today.

"We will deliver with a lot of passion and we will make sure this is a milestone in the history of the Middle East and in the history of FIFA."

Qatar defeated the United States, which had former president Bill Clinton as honorary chairman to its bid and also enlisted the help of actor Morgan Freeman, in the final round of voting.

FIFA announced Russia had beaten challenges from England, plus joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium, to land the right to host the footballing spectacle.

Turkey boss Hiddink was in Zurich for the announcement as part of the bid team for Netherlands and Belgium. But having coached Russia between 2006 and 2010, he is aware how much this will mean for the nation.

"I was in Zurich to promote the Netherlands/Belgium bid so I am disappointed that Russia has won," he said. "But if anyone other than us had to win it, I would have chosen Russia.

"This is a huge boost for football there. For all those beautiful stadiums and for the Russian economy. It could very well be that many international companies will invest there now."

Netherlands prime minister Mark Rutte also congratulated the Russians on their successful bid.

In a message on Twitter, he wrote: "Our World Cup bid for 2018 has unfortunately not been successful. In sport there can only be one winner so well done Russia.

"If you don't try, you don't succeed. This is something for Holland and Belgium - just go ahead and take risks."

Ruud Gullit, chairman of Netherlands and Belgium's joint bid, was more subdued after learning they had missed out on the right to stage the 2018 event.

"I'm certainly disappointed," Gullit said. "Today I had the feeling that we could get it.

"We put down a good bid and presentation, but apparently it wasn't good enough for the executive committee."

Belgium's assistant coach, Marc Wilmots, was critical of the decision to hand Russia and Qatar, which will stage the 2022 event, the hosting rights.

"Russia is a political choice, Qatar an economic one," he said. "We could say that the biggest loser here is sport in the allocation of the World Cups.

"Everyone knows from the start there will be more losers than winners. We fall into that first category but we must remain sporting and accept our defeat with dignity."

"I would like to thank the members of the FIFA executive committee for their decision, that they trusted us with staging the football World Cup," Putin said on Thursday in televised remarks.

Putin, who spearheaded the campaign to bring his country the world's most-watched sporting event for the first time, said he would travel to Zurich later on Thursday.

"I would like to assure the FIFA leadership that we will do everything possible to ensure that the 2018 football World Cup is staged at a deserving level," the prime minister said.

Meanwhile, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev welcomed the news that the World Cup is coming to his country but immediately turned his focus to delivering the event.

The Russian bid saw off competition from England, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium at the announcement in Zurich despite the absence of Putin.

Medvedev was quick to commend the bid team's success though.

Writing on his Twitter account, Medvedev said: "Victory. We got it! Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup! Now we need to prepare for it and I hope our team will do well too."

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, clutching a replica of the World Cup trophy on stage moments after Sepp Blatter made the announcement, told the crowd: "To have entrusted us with the World Cup for 2018....you will never regret it. Let us make history together."

Fans were also rejoicing at the news, with Alexander Shprygin, the head of Russia's official football supporters group, telling The Moscow News that the World Cup put even the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in the shade.

"This is huge for us," said Shprygin.

"We've been waiting for this announcement for two years, when fans first spoke with sports minister Vitaly Mutko about it.

"It's a symbol, a landmark and a bigger stimulus than the 2014 Olympics. It's a national leap, a national project."

England received only two votes and was eliminated in the first round, with Russia then beating joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium to triumph, while Qatar was awarded the 2022 tournament.

England brought in the big guns to lobby FIFA delegates in Zurich, with former captain Beckham, Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William all spending two days promoting the bid, but it was all in vain.

Beckham told BBC Radio Five Live: "I think the bid team have done everything possible, we couldn't have got a better bid.

"We're disappointed but we wish Qatar and Russia the very best, they're two great countries and I'm sure they'll make FIFA very proud.

"It's obviously hard to not come away with the World Cup in 2018 but a lot of congratulations have to go to the team, a lot of hard work has been done.

"With the Prime Minister's hard work and Prince William's hard work, the whole bid team has been exceptional.

"It would be great to bring the World Cup to our country because we've not had it for so many years but it's a process I've enjoyed."

The Prime Minister arrived back in England to bad news after leaving Switzerland before the decision was announced.

He said: "It is desperately sad. There hasn't been a World Cup in England in my lifetime. I was hoping we could change that, but not this time.

"According to FIFA we had the best technical bid. No-one could identify any risks of coming to England.

"I think we had the strongest commercial bid and the country is passionate about football. But it turns out that's not enough."

Prince William expressed his disappointment, saying on Sky Sports News: "We had a very strong bid, sadly it didn't work out. The guys have been doing a fantastic job, we ran a really professional campaign, and I'm immensely proud of them.

"I'm sorry for the fans back home, we did everything we could."

Bid chief executive Andy Anson told the BBC that England had expected to get more than the two votes they picked up.

"There were other votes we thought we were going to get that would have taken us way into the second round and beyond," he said. "Some of those didn't materialise, I don't know which ones.

"It would be nice to know because, when people look you in the eye and promise you something, you tend to hope they live up to their word, but clearly that's not happened."

Current England captain Rio Ferdinand, giving his reaction on Twitter, drew attention to the BBC's Panorama programme on Monday, which probed alleged corruption within FIFA.

He said: "The timing of the Panorama programme was bad taste, fact."

Gary Lineker, whose tally of 48 international goals is the second-highest in England's history, added: "They've always said they want to push the frontiers - I was surprised they went with two new ones but there were a lot of good strong bids.

"It was always going to be hugely competitive, I just wish it was us."

London Mayor Boris Johnson was disappointed the city did not have more to celebrate after winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

"This is a tremendously disappointing result," said Johnson. "We put together a cracking bid, our technical specification was top notch and our stadiums would have been packed to the rafters. Londoners love football."

England bid board member Lord Sebastien Coe admitted Russia's presentation had been shrewd and may have helped seal success.

The Russians pointed out the World Cup had yet to be staged in eastern Europe, compared with the 10 times it has been held in the west of the continent.

"It was a very similar concept that Rio went for in Copenhagen (when they won their bid for the 2016 Olympic Games) just a few months ago," Lord Coe told BBC Radio Five. "I think that worked quite strongly for them today."

Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein was also integral to England's bid team, and was angered that "the best team didn't win".

"It was always going to be difficult and it wasn't made any easier by certain elements. I'm not going to go into that now," he said.

"When the technical study and the economic reports came out, we were one of best - if not the best - and I think you'll agree that the presentation today was top class, so that makes it all the more disappointing that we didn't do better."

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn felt England was a victim of politics and admitted the decision was a big blow for a city that would have been one of the hosts.

He told Sky Sports News: "It's a depressed room, lots of people have left the room in tears. A lot of people gave virtually their whole lives to this over the last 18 months. The collective will in this region was incredible.

"We won't get bitter and twisted but, having put so much work in, having been highly commended for our national bid, having scored as highly as we did technically, I think there were other forces at play.

"I'm not sure what they are yet, the politics of it all seems to have strangled the English bid."

Martin Peters, who was part of the England team that won the World Cup on home soil in 1966, said on Sky Sports News: "I'm absolutely gutted.

"I'm sure the boys of 66 would have loved to have it back here and there'll all be really upset."

Qatar was the surprise winners to host the tournament after the 22-member FIFA executive committee voted to send the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time.

Australia, also attempting to host the tournament for the first time, could not even get past the first round after securing just a single vote.

But despite that miserly return Buckley believes Australia's bid had been worthwhile to help the growth of the sport Down Under.

"Congratulations to the two winning bidders for 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, Russia and Qatar," Buckley said in a statement.

"We are obviously disappointed at the outcome in Zurich, however we are proud of the efforts we made in trying to secure a FIFA World Cup in Australia.

"We mounted a technically excellent, credible and responsible bid against enormous competition and this strong bid has delivered important benefits.

"Australia's reputation as a potential host for such a major event has been reinforced.

"The bid showcased Australia as an attractive destination for tourists and business and benefits will flow from this.

"For football in Australia, the coverage has boosted the game's profile and our international relationships have been strengthened.

"We sincerely thank the Australian public for their enthusiasm for the bid, the Australian governments for their unequivocal support and the many ambassadors who have supported Australia's bid along the way.

"Football in Australia will continue to grow with your support - and we thank you for that."

Bid chief Frank Lowy was understandably stunned by the decision.

"What can we do? We've done our best and couldn't have done better.

"The bid was very credible... we didn't take a step wrong... but obviously it wasn't enough this time.

"I am satisfied that we have done everything that we could have possibly done."

FIFA released the voting figures that showed Australia won only one vote and was eliminated at the first hurdle.

Qatar defeated USA in the final round to win the right to host the event.

In the vote for the 2018 tournament, England suffered the same fate as Australia, gaining just two votes.

In the first round Holland/Belgium secured four, Spain/Portugal seven and Russia nine.

Russia will host the World Cup after gaining a majority in the second round of voting.

Round 1: Australia 1 vote, Japan 3 votes, Korea Republic 4 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 3 votes (Australia eliminated)

Round 2: Japan 2 votes, Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 10 votes and USA 5 votes (Japan eliminated)

Round 3: Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 6 votes (Korea Republic eliminated)

Round 4: Qatar 14 votes and USA 8 votes (Qatar obtained an absolute majority)

2018 FIFA World Cup

Round 1: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 9 votes (as no absolute majority was reached, the candidate with least amount of votes, England, was eliminated)

Round 2: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 13 votes (Russia obtained an absolute majority)

USA, which hosted the World Cup in 1994, lost out to Qatar in the vote at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, with bids from Australia, South Korea and Japan also failing to sufficiently impress the voting executives.

USA had been considered a front-runner to host the World Cup in 12 years' time but the momentum swung firmly to Qatar in recent weeks and the emirate lived up to its favourite's tag.

US Soccer president Sunil Gulati told www.gousabid.com: "There's no way around it: I am disappointed.

"Millions of US soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country. To come up short is very difficult to take."

Gulati nevertheless paid tribute to the weight of support the bid had received from football fans in the United States.

"In the face of this disappointment, we shouldn't lose track of all that we achieved," he said.

"During the past two years, the outpouring of support for soccer in the United States has been inspiring and historic. More than one million people signed on to our bid, and more than 100 million [in the US] watched last summer's World Cup.

"Thanks to your efforts, the game is stronger than ever in our country, and it will continue to grow stronger. There's no question that you've helped make a lasting impact on soccer in the United States. The entire country - and the entire world - took notice.

"Even though our Bid did not win, the future of soccer is bright in the United States."

Spain, in partnership with Portugal, had been competing to host the 2018 World Cup but was beaten by Russia.

"The Spanish football federation wishes to extent its most sincere congratulations to the football federations of Russia and Qatar after being chosen to organise the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively" the RFEF said in a statement on their website.

And England's team once more tastes World Cup failure.

It is something with which England is not unfamiliar. Not on the field, especially after the shambolic performance in South Africa last summer.

Not in the voting chamber, either, considering they were also beaten - by Germany - for the 2006 tournament.

You cannot blame the technicalities of England's latest bid. It could not have been more impressive, while the final presentation was impressive.

It rolled out support from Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and Manchester City's Roberto Mancini and Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson and football folk spanning the generations from Sir Bobby Charlton to Gary Lineker to Alan Shearer.

It rolled out Prime Minister David Cameron to confirm England had the "expertise" and "passion" to host a "spectacular" show.

Plus football's most famous ambassador David Beckham to provide glamour and a 27-year-old in Eddie Afekafe, who works on Manchester City's community programs, to give a human touch in explaining how football had changed his life.

And it rolled out Prince William, who alluded to his wedding to Kate Middleton next year in evidence of England's ability to put on big events.

You might rightly have misgivings about a nation's top politician and a future king joining in the horse-trading which goes on at FIFA, but you cannot complain about the weight which was thrown behind England's bid.

So why did it fail?

The obvious reason is because of the baggage it carried.

The Sunday Times cash-for-votes investigation, which saw two FIFA committee members banned, would have been viewed in some perverse quarters as an English attack on FIFA even if it had nothing to do with England's bid and was a commendable example of investigative journalism.

Then there was Lord Triesman, who resigned from his position as chairman of the FA and England's 2018 bid after accusing Russia and Spain of plotting to bribe referees at last year's tournament.

And, of course, Monday's BBC Panorama program earlier this week which accused FIFA committee members of corruption. Why, even on the eve of the vote crowd violence at Birmingham was relayed around the world and into the hotels of FIFA members. None of that could have helped.

Perhaps there was a perception of over-confidence, too, in the England bid as well as the fact that in some parts of the world England and the English simply are not viewed that favourably.

Whatever, it appears the English bid, despite a late flourish, could not overcome the drip-drip of negativity.

It is an almighty shame because a World Cup in 2018 would have provided an opportunity for the renaissance of England football.

It would have focused minds and resources on the national team rather than on the relentless pursuit of power and money by the Premier League.

It would have given the Football Association a vehicle, too, to restructure itself while giving the nation's schools and footballing youth a boost which money could not buy.

Yet, while it was a vote which was tough for football enthusiasts to take, it was also one which brought a cold shower of reality.

The fact is that everything does not start and end with England, even if it did give the organised football game to the world. Russia had a compelling argument, at least when it came to the footballing evangelists at FIFA.

Its bid included the building of 13 new stadia and new transport links and FIFA saw a chance to hand a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to an undeveloped footballing nation.

It is a gamble because of the sheer size of the country and the different time zones.

But FIFA saw its votes making change and a difference, rather than the safe, secure home England would have provided. The seasoned observers call it "legacy," something of a buzzword these days at FIFA.

It is why South Africa hosted last year's tournament, why Brazil will host 2014 and why Qatar was chosen for 2022.

England could not compete with the attraction of spreading the footballing gospel, nor with taking the tournament to a nation where the World Cup would provide impetus for the regeneration of its impoverished regions.

Russia has also never staged the tournament, which would also have been a powerful reason in the minds of some of the FIFA committee members.

It explains the vote. It does nothing to lessen the disappointment.

To be knocked ingloriously out of two World Cups in one year is tough to take.

Putin had expected to be a prominent figurehead for the Russian bid in the final days of campaigning but instead remained in Moscow as voters gathered in Zurich ahead of Thursday's ballot.

However the absence of the Russian Prime Minister was no obstacle to success for a slick campaign which has secured the country its first ever World Cup, despite lingering concerns over infrastructure.

Putin was travelling to Zurich to thank FIFA while deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said FIFA would not regret handing the sporting showpiece to his country.

"You have entrusted us with the FIFA World Cup for 2018 and I can promise, we all can promise, you will never regret it," Shuvalov said after being presented with the World Cup by global football supremo Sepp Blatter.

"Let us make history together."

Putin may yet have had a decisive influence on the vote however, accusing England of a "smear campaign" against FIFA on the eve of the ballot.

Russian bid officials steered clear of fuelling the war of words in their final presentation however, instead emphasising the country's readiness to host the tournament for the first time.

"We are ready. Most of the infrastructure is planned and budgeted for and the World Cup will accelerate this," bid chief Alexei Sorokin said.

Russia has proposed staging the World Cup in 13 cities grouped into four clusters stretching from the exclave of Kaliningrad on the borders of the European Union to Yekaterinburg in the Urals on the fringe of Siberia.

With the exception of Yekaterinburg, all the cities are in the European part of Russia and teams will not have to fly out to far-flung regions.

Putin's promise to scrap visas was of crucial importance as nationals of almost all countries outside the former Soviet Union require visas to visit Russia, an often expensive and time-consuming process.

Putin also assured that construction works at the country's possible World Cup facilities would take place even if Russia's bid failed.

The Russian strongman - whose support was seen crucial in securing the 2014 Winter Olympics for Russia - also promised that football fans will have the right to travel free on public transport during the event.

Russia's plan for construction works and improving facilities in host cities fits FIFA's long-term plans of developing the sport, especially in regions with outdated infrastructure.

Russia already has some experience in hosting major football events, most notably the rain-drenched 2008 Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea and the 1999 UEFA Cup final, which Italy's Parma won.

But Russia's huge size, its remoteness from other countries and relatively weak transportation system have created questions about the country's ability to move fans, footballers and officials from one region to another.

The Middle East nation defeated Australia, USA, Japan and Korea Republic after a hotly contested bidding process.

There was no fairytale ending in the snow-covered Swiss city for Frank Lowy and his team following a stomach-churning final day.

The Australian team had to sit through Russia being announced as 2018 World Cup hosts before discovering the nation's fate.

"The winner is Qatar," Blatter said to dash Australia's hopes.

Having captured the 2000 Sydney Olympics in 1993, Australia stood as a genuine contender to host the world's biggest sporting event entering the final day of the campaign.

Considering the mess the sport was in a decade ago, the boldness and effort required to be seriously considered demonstrated how far the nation has come in the world game.

Australia had gone into the contest believing it was a good chance of winning at its first attempt and it is a crushing blow for the bid's inspiration Lowy and his team.

Lowy will be 91 in 2022 and said this week he didn't expect to be around to watch Australia host a World Cup if it missed out on Thursday.

"I will be watching from somewhere else," he said.

It could well be a very long time before Australia is in such a strong position to capture the event with Asia only viewed as a possible host for every third World Cup at best.

If China nets the 2026 edition, don't worry about Lowy missing out on witnessing a World Cup on Australian soil.

With the rotation these days between Europe, the Americas and Africa as well, there might not be many of us around to watch it with the next genuine shot being for the 2038 or 2042 editions.

It is also a missed opportunity to alter the sporting landscape in Australia and Football Federation Australia officials will return home to refocus their efforts on the A-League.

A damning evaluation report from FIFA on the oppressive heat in Qatar in June and July meant little as the tiny Middle East nation won the vote.

The splitting of European nations for the 2018 bid had appeared to have aided Australia's cause as it cut the field to five bids.

A damning report on Qatar looked to have helped as did anti-USA sentiment that lingers across the world.

South Korea and Japan hosted the event in 2002 and that is like yesterday in World Cup terms.

Australia's promise of a trouble-free event and positioning itself as the second choice of delegates had appeared to be a wise one for the later rounds of the voting.

But with the voting rounds not immediately released, it is hard to know how close Australia came to a win.