World Cup Entry In Doubt

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31763, 21 August 1968, Page 15

World Cup Entry In Doubt

(By Our Soccer Reporter)

New Zealand’s participation in the World Cup soccer tournament is in the balance, to be decided, possibly, on the outcome of talks in Mexico in October. During the Olympic Games, when the international soccer federation holds its annual conference, New Zealand will ask for a revised draw In the Asia and Oceania group and for help to pay New Zealand's expenses of competing in the World Cup.

New Zealand’s case will be put by the chairman of the national association, Mr J. C. Cowie. If the request for a new draw is refused, as it has been once already, the N.Z.F.A. will have to decide whether to continue in the World Cup. FAILING IN DUTY

But if the entry is withdrawn at this late stage it would be a further Indication that those in control of soccer in New Zealand are failing in their duty. When the original draw was announced for the World Cup, the Asia and Oceania zone was divided into two sections: New Zealand joined North Korea and Israel and the other section comprised Australia, Rhodesia, South Korea and Japan.

The two sections were to play in separate tournaments on a home-and-oway basis, the winners to meet to find the qualifier to play in the last 16 in Mexico In 1970.

When this draw was announced, in February, Mr Cowie said: “I just don’t think we dan afford to be starters.” The N.Z.F.A. had believed teams would play-off in their various confederations and that New Zealand would have been included in an Oceanic group.

"This would have matched us against Australia as the only Oceania countries entered in the competition,” he added. COMPROMISE PROPOSED

However, the annual meeting of the N.Z.F.A. in February recommended that the entry remain. Then, a solution seemed to have been found when the Asian federation proposed that the nations in the group be paired off for the first round—New Zealand and Australia, Israel and Rhodesia, Japan and South Korea, with North Korea having the bye. The winners would meet in a tournament in One of the qualify, ing countries. This was recommended to F.I.F.A. but was refused by the World Cup committee.

Once more New Zealand’s entry was said “to be in jeo- ] pardy.” Now, Mr Cowie will pro- 1 pose the same compromise to 1 the F.I.F.A. conference in ; October. It is unlikely that F.I.F.A. will change the draw or be ' any more favourable to New ! Zealand’s request to pay the ' country’s expenses in the World Cup, for the very good reason that it would set dangerous precedents. 1 CHAOS WOULD RESULT ] If F.I.F.A. allowed groups i to decide their own matches I after the official draw has i been made, chaos would re- j suit Also, there are 138 J nations affiliated to F.I.F.A. 1 and more than half are no 1 better off financially than i New Zealand. If New Zea- i land's expenses were paid by j F.1.F.A., there is no reason j why every other country 1 should not make the same re- 1 quest ]

It is passible that in future F.I.F.A. might agree to a first round line-up along the lines now being suggested by New Zealand. But it would probably insist that it must be included in the original draw, so that no nation or group of nations could afterwards use the precedent as the reason for changing their own grouping after the official draw has been published. This is the unsatisfactory position in which the NZJJL now finds itself—and the fault is the executive committee’s, not F.LFX’s. Already this season the N.Z.F.A. has withdrawn from the Merdeka tournament in Kuala Lumpur because of the costs, after an unsuccessful application was made to the Kiwi lottery funds to help pay the team’s expenses. Now the N.Z.F.A. is going “cap in hand” once more, this time to F.I.F.A.

The N.Z.FA should not have entered either the World Cup or the Merdeka tournament unless it knew it could meet the costs. It is no excuse to say that it believed it would be playing Australia in the first round. This is begging the question.

Had New Zealand beaten Australia it would have been committed to a further qualifying tournament -in Asia. Who would have provided the money for this trip? Or were the N.Z.F.A. hoping that Australia would win?

The N.Z.FJL has badly mismanaged arrangements over the World Cup. The national squad has been named but no dates yet announced when it will meet under the coach, Mr J. Shwanner. Now there is the possibility that New Zealand will withdraw from the World Cup as meekly as it did from the Merdeka.