1 Dec 2010

Fifa wants Temarii to accept his sanctions

5:44 pm on 1 December 2010

FIFA reportedly wants suspended Oceania football chief Reynald Temarii to fully accept his sanctions in return for allowing the region to vote on the World Cup hosts.

According to a letter addressed to the New Zealand-based Oceania Football Confederation, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke wrote that a replacement would be able to "attend the upcoming meetings of the FIFA executive committee without delay" if that condition were met.

Temarii has stated his intention to appeal against his one-year suspension for disloyalty following a British newspaper report on vote buying opportunities in the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, although he was cleared of bribery by the ethics committee.

With another member banned, just 22 out of the 24 executive committee members of world football's governing body can take part in the secret ballot tomorrow night in Zurich.

The renewed presence of a 23rd vote from Oceania could shift the balance in the voting for the nine candidates, which notably includes Australia for 2022 and England for 2018.

The OFC has confirmed that acting president David Chung has gone to Zurich.