Soccer chief confidently plans home cup tie

Press, 22 October 1981, Page 36

Soccer chief confidently plans home cup tie

PA Auckland New Zealand is pressing ahead with arrangements for the home World Cup soccer tie against Saudi Arabia, at Mount Smart Stadium on November 28. F.I.F.A. has still to decide whether the match will be allowed at that venue after the violence at the New Zealand v. Kuwait game on October 10. But New Zealand's World Cup director, Mr Charlie Dempsey, is gambling that

soccer’s international body - will accord the New Zealand team its home rights. “I don’t know what the decision will be," said Mr Dempsey, just back from talks with F.I.F.A. officials in Sydney, ‘‘but, if I was a betting man, I’d have money on the game going ahead. “I’m picking we’ll be heavily censured and fined, and will be made to provide stringent security arrangements. The message came across loud and clear — F.I.F.A. is determined to stamp out violence in the game. “But our record in this . respect is excellent, and to take the game away from us would be harsh.” The plans for November 28, in anticipation of a favourable F.I.F.A. decision, include total protection for the referee and his linesmen and comprehensive crowd control to secure- the playing area. “But I don’t want lots of policemen everywhere,” said Mr Dempsey. “We’re working on having four senior players from every club in the northern region to act as officials right around the ground itself.

“We’ve got to • keep children off the pitch before, during and after the game — and the crowd must not be allowed into the arena itself. “We have no tunnel through which the officials and teams can reach the pitch, so we’re going to have to come up with temporary measures which will deal with this problem.” Mr Dempsey is also working on a widely publicised appeal to people intending to watch the game at Mount Smart to “remember what this game means to the future of New Zealand soccer, to safeguard . the somewhat tarnished reputation that New Zealanders have for common sense and fair play. “The days when kids could go out on the park have gone,” he said. “We’re in the big league now and we have to conduct ourselves accordingly. “I’m optimistic F.I.F.A. will slap us on the hand and give us another chance. They know we were caught completely unawares by what happened during and after the Kuwait match.

“If we get that chance, we must make the most of it and prove that the Kuwait incidents were oncers.” The New Zealand v. Saudi Arabia game is scheduled to be New Zealand’s last home game in the final qualifying round for Spain. It will then have to play away against Kuwait (on December 14) and Saudi Arabia (December 19) to complete its programme. The top two teams in the group of four go through to the 24-team World Cup finals.