(Reuters) – Everton chairman Bill Kenwright cut a resigned figure after meeting manager David Moyes late on Wednesday, admitting he could do little to prevent the Scot from making the seemingly inevitable move to Manchester United.

Moyes was quickly installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Alex Ferguson, British football’s most successful manager, who announced he was quitting the Old Trafford hot-seat on Wednesday after more than 26 trophy-laden years in charge.

The odds on the Everton boss tumbled quickly throughout the day with one British bookmaker making the Scot 1-25 odds-on favourite, while others closed the market as money was instead spent on trying to predict his replacement at Goodison Park.

Some British media reported that the deal for Moyes could be announced as early as Thursday morning.

“I don’t know about a deal being done. David had a meeting scheduled with me and it was a good meeting,” Kenwright told Sky Sports News after leaving his office just before 23:00.

“At the end of the day David’s contract is up in six weeks time and he has a right to make his own decisions.

“He has served this club wonderfully well and he has a right to make his decision.”

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho had briefly shared favourite status with Moyes but the odds on the Portuguese drifted out to 10-1 by the end of the day.

MIXED RECEPTION

Kenwright said Moyes would definitely be in charge for Everton’s next game at home to West Ham United on Saturday. Everton close out their campaign away to Chelsea on May 19 as Ferguson oversees his 1,500th game when United visit West Bromwich Albion.

Ferguson will stay on at Old Trafford as an ambassador and director at the 20-times English champions and United may also require the 71-year-old to act as a mediator should Moyes replace him.

Swamped under the Ferguson headlines, reports surfaced in British media on Wednesday that United striker Wayne Rooney had once again asked to leave Old Trafford.

Rooney began his career at Everton under Moyes, but the two subsequently fell out over an account in one of Rooney’s autobiography of how the player came to leave Everton and sign for United.

Rooney was not for sale, a Manchester United spokesman said on Wednesday.

The striker criticised United’s ambition in 2010 before performing a U-turn and signing a five-year contract extension days later. Rooney’s form has been varied this season and he has often sat on the bench for key games.

The impending arrival of Moyes drew a mixed reception from United fans, reeling that the trophy-filled Ferguson era was coming to an end.

“It’s the right time, wrong replacement. He has no real Champions League experience, he is unproven,” Manchester pub landlord Dave Pawson told Reuters when asked of Moyes’ suitability.

Moyes has spent 11 years at Goodison and has built a strong reputation by continually over achieving on a smaller budget than arch rivals Liverpool as well as other Premier League sides.

The lucrative Champions League group stages remained a step too far, however, and a 2009 FA Cup final loss to Chelsea was the closest he came to ending a barren run without a trophy for the nine-times English champions.

“If it is David Moyes then I congratulate him and feel sorry for him,” former United boss Tommy Docherty told the BBC. “How can you follow the impossible?”

(Reporting by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Ossian Shine)

Moyes was quickly installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Alex Ferguson, British football’s most successful manager, who announced he was quitting the Old Trafford hot-seat on Wednesday after more than 26 trophy-laden years in charge.

The odds on the Everton boss tumbled quickly throughout the day with one British bookmaker making the Scot 1-25 odds-on favourite, while others closed the market as money was instead spent on trying to predict his replacement at Goodison Park.

Some British media reported that the deal for Moyes could be announced as early as Thursday morning.

“I don’t know about a deal being done. David had a meeting scheduled with me and it was a good meeting,” Kenwright told Sky Sports News after leaving his office just before 23:00.

“At the end of the day David’s contract is up in six weeks time and he has a right to make his own decisions.

“He has served this club wonderfully well and he has a right to make his decision.”

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho had briefly shared favourite status with Moyes but the odds on the Portuguese drifted out to 10-1 by the end of the day.

MIXED RECEPTION

Kenwright said Moyes would definitely be in charge for Everton’s next game at home to West Ham United on Saturday. Everton close out their campaign away to Chelsea on May 19 as Ferguson oversees his 1,500th game when United visit West Bromwich Albion.

Ferguson will stay on at Old Trafford as an ambassador and director at the 20-times English champions and United may also require the 71-year-old to act as a mediator should Moyes replace him.

Swamped under the Ferguson headlines, reports surfaced in British media on Wednesday that United striker Wayne Rooney had once again asked to leave Old Trafford.

Rooney began his career at Everton under Moyes, but the two subsequently fell out over an account in one of Rooney’s autobiography of how the player came to leave Everton and sign for United.

Rooney was not for sale, a Manchester United spokesman said on Wednesday.

The striker criticised United’s ambition in 2010 before performing a U-turn and signing a five-year contract extension days later. Rooney’s form has been varied this season and he has often sat on the bench for key games.

The impending arrival of Moyes drew a mixed reception from United fans, reeling that the trophy-filled Ferguson era was coming to an end.

“It’s the right time, wrong replacement. He has no real Champions League experience, he is unproven,” Manchester pub landlord Dave Pawson told Reuters when asked of Moyes’ suitability.

Moyes has spent 11 years at Goodison and has built a strong reputation by continually over achieving on a smaller budget than arch rivals Liverpool as well as other Premier League sides.

The lucrative Champions League group stages remained a step too far, however, and a 2009 FA Cup final loss to Chelsea was the closest he came to ending a barren run without a trophy for the nine-times English champions.

“If it is David Moyes then I congratulate him and feel sorry for him,” former United boss Tommy Docherty told the BBC. “How can you follow the impossible?”

The Southeast Asian city-state beat Tianjin in China and Mexico’s Monterrey for the right to stage the S$6 million ($4.87 million) WTA Championships after Turkey’s Istanbul ends its three-year stint in October.

“Your sensational city, the amazing city of Singapore, has won the right to host the WTA Championships for the next five years from 2014,” WTA chairman and chief executive Stacey Allaster told reporters.

Allaster called the agreement a record breaker and “the largest and most significant WTA partnership in our history”.

The season-ender is the most prestigious women’s tennis event outside the four grand slam tournaments – the Australian, French and U.S. Opens plus Wimbledon.

The top eight singles and doubles pairs over the season qualify for the event which was won last year by American world number one Serena Williams. Russian pair Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova took the doubles title.

The event was first staged in 1972 in the United States but has moved around the world since 2001 with Munich, Madrid and Doha joining New York and Los Angeles in staging it.

The hosting rights are a major coup for Singapore, which has not held a top level tennis event since the 1999 Heineken Cup on the men’s ATP Tour. Lower ranked challenger events and exhibition tournaments have struggled to attract crowds.

The event will take place at the Sports Hub complex, which is due to be finished by the first quarter of 2014 at a cost of S$1.3 billion.

The impressive complex will feature a 55,000-seater stadium with retractable roof, a 13,000 indoor stadium, aquatics centre and water sports centre.

The venue could be key for sports and entertainment businesses to tap into the lucrative southeast Asian market with Singapore’s low crime rate and overall ease of doing business a rarity amongst nearby nations.

World Sports Group, the commercial partner of the Sports Hub, have talked previously about attracting a rugby 7s event and Indian Premier League Twenty20 matches. WSG Chief Executive Andrew Georgiou said the WTA Championships was just the start.

“It is also another feather in the cap for Singapore, which continues to prove itself as Asia’s premier events destination. We are really excited about working towards the first event of 2014,” the Australian told reporters.

“We are pretty proud, one of the first of many to be announced over the next couple of months to be hosted at the Singapore sports hub.”

(Additional reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

The Southeast Asian city-state beat Tianjin in China and Mexico’s Monterrey for the right to stage the S$6 million ($4.87 million) WTA Championships after Turkey’s Istanbul ends its three-year stint in October.

“Your sensational city, the amazing city of Singapore, has won the right to host the WTA Championships for the next five years from 2014,” WTA chairman and chief executive Stacey Allaster told reporters.

Allaster called the agreement a record breaker and “the largest and most significant WTA partnership in our history”.

The season-ender is the most prestigious women’s tennis event outside the four grand slam tournaments – the Australian, French and U.S. Opens plus Wimbledon.

The top eight singles and doubles pairs over the season qualify for the event which was won last year by American world number one Serena Williams. Russian pair Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova took the doubles title.

The event was first staged in 1972 in the United States but has moved around the world since 2001 with Munich, Madrid and Doha joining New York and Los Angeles in staging it.

The hosting rights are a major coup for Singapore, which has not held a top level tennis event since the 1999 Heineken Cup on the men’s ATP Tour. Lower ranked challenger events and exhibition tournaments have struggled to attract crowds.

The event will take place at the Sports Hub complex, which is due to be finished by the first quarter of 2014 at a cost of S$1.3 billion.

The impressive complex will feature a 55,000-seater stadium with retractable roof, a 13,000 indoor stadium, aquatics centre and water sports centre.

The venue could be key for sports and entertainment businesses to tap into the lucrative southeast Asian market with Singapore’s low crime rate and overall ease of doing business a rarity amongst nearby nations.

World Sports Group, the commercial partner of the Sports Hub, have talked previously about attracting a rugby 7s event and Indian Premier League Twenty20 matches. WSG Chief Executive Andrew Georgiou said the WTA Championships was just the start.

“It is also another feather in the cap for Singapore, which continues to prove itself as Asia’s premier events destination. We are really excited about working towards the first event of 2014,” the Australian told reporters.

“We are pretty proud, one of the first of many to be announced over the next couple of months to be hosted at the Singapore sports hub.” ($1 = 1.2333 Singapore dollars) (Additional reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

(Reuters) – The introduction of a female seat on FIFA’s executive committee is a significant step in gender inequality being eradicated from the game and not a token position, Australian candidate Moya Dodd told Reuters.

A female seat on the executive committee was first proposed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2011 before being adopted a year later with the first election due to take place this month.

Dodd, a former player, commentator and current lawyer, is up for the role but faces competition.

Also in the running are New Zealand’s Paula Kearns, Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Lydia Nsekera, the President of the Burundi Football Association, who has been the co-opted member of FIFA ExCo since 2012.

The successful candidate will be decided by a vote at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius on May 31 and Dodd believes whoever wins the seat on the all-powerful board, which rules on the sport’s significant issues, must seize the opportunity.

“For me personally it would be a very significant step. I hope that whoever takes the seat makes a real tangible contribution and I suppose exceeds expectation as to what she can contribute,” Dodd told Reuters.

“There are some absolutely outstanding women in football globally, some aspiring, very competent women and it would be great to see that contribution happening in the FIFA ExCo, the top table of world football.”

FIFA has faced accusations of sexism in the past. In 2004, Blatter drew outrage when he suggested women footballers should wear tighter shorts.

In March, anti-corruption expert and member of FIFA’s reform committee Alexandra Wrage accused the world governing body of ‘blatant sexism’ after she said an unnamed FIFA official told her that it was not acceptable for a woman to hold such a role in the organization. She resigned in April.

Dodd said that women had long faced struggles at all levels in the game but that the newly-created role was not an attempt by FIFA to plaster over past sexism accusations.

“Is it a token position? I wouldn’t treat it as that. If you are given an opportunity to contribute to the top table then you have got to make the most of that opportunity.

“I do think the football world is tilted against women from the time they begin to play or don’t, as the case may be, right through to the opportunities for coaching, refereeing and other non playing on-field activities through to the governance structures, committee rooms and boardrooms.

“That is the world we live in and that’s why it’s so important that these positions are being created for female members around the world.

“I have sat in boardrooms and it is easy for women’s football to slip off the agenda or become a low priority. If we have women in the boardroom advocating for it, then it is going to be much be much better represented and I hope I can do it.”

Blatter was in Kuala Lumpur to see Dodd elected unopposed to the role of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) vice president on Thursday.

The 77-year-old Swiss hailed Asia for including women in senior positions with Dodd and Bangladesh’s Mahfuza Akhter being joined on the AFC’s executive committee on Thursday by North Korea’s Han Un-gyong and Susan Shalabi Molano of Palestine.

“What a realization after 108 years, what a patience for the women and what a stubborn organization for men not to accept women in their organization but this will be changed now,” Blatter told AFC delegates last week about the newly-created FIFA seat.

Understandably, Dodd is keen not to be pigeonholed. She has assembled an impressive resume, which includes a victory over Brazil in FIFA’s women’s invitational tournament in 1988, three years before the inaugural women’s World Cup.

“One day I would love to get to the point where your gender is not a matter of comment,” said the 48-year-old, who first joined the AFC in 2007, shortly after Australia’s inclusion in the confederation.

“I don’t want to be famous for being female, I would just like to be good at what I do and become known for having made a contribution but that day is some way off.”

Also some way off, but inevitable, is a time when men and women will go head-to-head for roles in FIFA, she says.

“All things happen eventually, but it would be a long time. So creating seats for female members will accelerate something that would otherwise be a very slow process.

“I’m not sure when you will get to the stage where female members are challenging for the seats that are not reserved for them. But this is a step towards it, so it’s a good thing.”

(Reporting by Patrick Johnston)

A female seat on the executive committee was first proposed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2011 before being adopted a year later with the first election due to take place this month.

Dodd, a former player, commentator and current lawyer, is up for the role but faces competition.

Also in the running are New Zealand’s Paula Kearns, Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Lydia Nsekera, the President of the Burundi Football Association, who has been the co-opted member of FIFA ExCo since 2012.

The successful candidate will be decided by a vote at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius on May 31 and Dodd believes whoever wins the seat on the all-powerful board, which rules on the sport’s significant issues, must seize the opportunity.

“For me personally it would be a very significant step. I hope that whoever takes the seat makes a real tangible contribution and I suppose exceeds expectation as to what she can contribute,” Dodd told Reuters.

“There are some absolutely outstanding women in football globally, some aspiring, very competent women and it would be great to see that contribution happening in the FIFA ExCo, the top table of world football.”

FIFA has faced accusations of sexism in the past. In 2004, Blatter drew outrage when he suggested women footballers should wear tighter shorts.

In March, anti-corruption expert and member of FIFA’s reform committee Alexandra Wrage accused the world governing body of ‘blatant sexism’ after she said an unnamed FIFA official told her that it was not acceptable for a woman to hold such a role in the organisation. She resigned in April.

Dodd said that women had long faced struggles at all levels in the game but that the newly-created role was not an attempt by FIFA to plaster over past sexism accusations.

“Is it a token position? I wouldn’t treat it as that. If you are given an opportunity to contribute to the top table then you have got to make the most of that opportunity.

“I do think the football world is tilted against women from the time they begin to play or don’t, as the case may be, right through to the opportunities for coaching, refereeing and other non playing on-field activities through to the governance structures, committee rooms and boardrooms.

“That is the world we live in and that’s why it’s so important that these positions are being created for female members around the world.

“I have sat in boardrooms and it is easy for women’s football to slip off the agenda or become a low priority. If we have women in the boardroom advocating for it, then it is going to be much be much better represented and I hope I can do it.”

Blatter was in Kuala Lumpur to see Dodd elected unopposed to the role of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) vice president on Thursday.

The 77-year-old Swiss hailed Asia for including women in senior positions with Dodd and Bangladesh’s Mahfuza Akhter being joined on the AFC’s executive committee on Thursday by North Korea’s Han Un-gyong and Susan Shalabi Molano of Palestine.

“What a realisation after 108 years, what a patience for the women and what a stubborn organisation for men not to accept women in their organisation but this will be changed now,” Blatter told AFC delegates last week about the newly-created FIFA seat.

Understandably, Dodd is keen not to be pigeonholed. She has assembled an impressive resume, which includes a victory over Brazil in FIFA’s women’s invitational tournament in 1988, three years before the inaugural women’s World Cup.

“One day I would love to get to the point where your gender is not a matter of comment,” said the 48-year-old, who first joined the AFC in 2007, shortly after Australia’s inclusion in the confederation.

“I don’t want to be famous for being female, I would just like to be good at what I do and become known for having made a contribution but that day is some way off.”

Also some way off, but inevitable, is a time when men and women will go head-to-head for roles in FIFA, she says.

“All things happen eventually, but it would be a long time. So creating seats for female members will accelerate something that would otherwise be a very slow process.

“I’m not sure when you will get to the stage where female members are challenging for the seats that are not reserved for them. But this is a step towards it, so it’s a good thing.” (Reporting by Patrick Johnston)

Just 24 hours before Sheikh Salman claimed a landslide election win on Thursday, the AFC suffered more embarrassing headlines with Sri Lankan Vernon Manilal Fernando banned for eight years by FIFA for unethical behaviour.

Sheikh Salman told Reuters the introduction of a new body to tackle the problems was an essential part in pushing through his transparency manifesto.

“If there are any wrongdoings by some, there has to be a tool to have a watchdog on everybody including the president,” Sheikh Salman said hours after hosting his first AFC Congress.

“I think this can be done in the next two years and hopefully we will do it, by the end of the year we will have to have something up and running.

“It is disappointing that we haven’t created an ethics committee to look at these matters to have a proper mechanism to tackle these things and I think FIFA will support us on that.”

The married father of three takes over the AFC at a difficult time with the body suffering bribery issues amongst members, allegations of age cheating in Southeast Asian competitions, violence on the field, referee abuse in Lebanon and player deaths in Indonesia.

But undoubtedly the biggest problem is match-fixing, with cases rife in nations big and small including China, South Korea, Malaysia, Lebanon and Singapore.

“I think we need, whether it is a task force, a committee or a team, to look into these matters and see what the proper matters are to fight it and hopefully with the support of FIFA and the local governments as well,” the 47-year-old said.

“I don’t think it can be done on our own. There are a lot of resources that are going to be put into that. It is a responsibility for all – not just the AFC.”

CARETAKER PRESIDENT

Sheikh Salman will initially serve two years rather than the normal four because he is effectively replacing former leader Mohammed Bin Hammam who was dismissed by FIFA for bribery and corruption halfway through what was the Qatari’s third term.

During the near two-year interim period under caretaker president Zhang Jilong of China, while Bin Hammam attempted to clear his name, the AFC largely went to ground, releasing few statements as the problems mounted.

Sheikh Salman said this would no longer be the case and the AFC would have a voice in world football.

“Our voice has to be heard, especially if it is related to match-fixing, corruption and any misleading actions or whatever,” the head of the Bahrain FA said.

“We have to have a strong monitor and, of course, the support Asian needs, whether it is for its own interests, of course I will be heard.”

During his campaign there were many loud voices alleging he was guilty of human rights breaches during the pro-democracy uprising.

Bahrain crushed Shi’ite-led demonstrations that began in February 2011. At least 35 people were killed. Lower-level unrest has continued since then and Sheikh Salman said he had been the victim of a smear campaign.

“Unfortunately to say some media are controlled by other people … to say what they want whether it is the truth or not,” he said.

“It needs to be addressed and looked at. If we are going to talk about stories without any proof, if you want to take us out of this game, out of football about matters to talk about matters we are not responsible for.

“At the end of the day we need to stick to our statutes and regulations and talk about football.”

On the football side, goalline technology remains a hot topic.

“It is good to have it but the cost? You can do it in a World Cup, in the (English) Premier League but can other member associations handle the expenses? We have to be realistic and practical as well,” Sheikh Salman said.

(Reporting by Patrick Johnston, Editing by Mike Collett and Ed Osmond)

Just 24 hours before Sheikh Salman claimed a landslide election win on Thursday, the AFC suffered more embarrassing headlines with Sri Lankan Vernon Manilal Fernando banned for eight years by FIFA for unethical behaviour.

Sheikh Salman told Reuters the introduction of a new body to tackle the problems was an essential part in pushing through his transparency manifesto.

“If there are any wrongdoings by some, there has to be a tool to have a watchdog on everybody including the president,” Sheikh Salman said hours after hosting his first AFC Congress.

“I think this can be done in the next two years and hopefully we will do it, by the end of the year we will have to have something up and running.

“It is disappointing that we haven’t created an ethics committee to look at these matters to have a proper mechanism to tackle these things and I think FIFA will support us on that.”

The married father of three takes over the AFC at a difficult time with the body suffering bribery issues amongst members, allegations of age cheating in Southeast Asian competitions, violence on the field, referee abuse in Lebanon and player deaths in Indonesia.

But undoubtedly the biggest problem is match-fixing, with cases rife in nations big and small including China, South Korea, Malaysia, Lebanon and Singapore.

“I think we need, whether it is a task force, a committee or a team, to look into these matters and see what the proper matters are to fight it and hopefully with the support of FIFA and the local governments as well,” the 47-year-old said.

“I don’t think it can be done on our own. There are a lot of resources that are going to be put into that. It is a responsibility for all – not just the AFC.”

CARETAKER PRESIDENT

Sheikh Salman will initially serve two years rather than the normal four because he is effectively replacing former leader Mohammed Bin Hammam who was dismissed by FIFA for bribery and corruption halfway through what was the Qatari’s third term.

During the near two-year interim period under caretaker president Zhang Jilong of China, while Bin Hammam attempted to clear his name, the AFC largely went to ground, releasing few statements as the problems mounted.

Sheikh Salman said this would no longer be the case and the AFC would have a voice in world soccer.

“Our voice has to be heard, especially if it is related to match-fixing, corruption and any misleading actions or whatever,” the head of the Bahrain FA said.

“We have to have a strong monitor and, of course, the support Asian needs, whether it is for its own interests, of course I will be heard.”

During his campaign there were many loud voices alleging he was guilty of human rights breaches during the pro-democracy uprising.

Bahrain crushed Shi’ite-led demonstrations that began in February 2011. At least 35 people were killed. Lower-level unrest has continued since then and Sheikh Salman said he had been the victim of a smear campaign.

“Unfortunately to say some media are controlled by other people … to say what they want whether it is the truth or not,” he said.

“It needs to be addressed and looked at. If we are going to talk about stories without any proof, if you want to take us out of this game, out of football about matters to talk about matters we are not responsible for.

“At the end of the day we need to stick to our statutes and regulations and talk about football.”

On the football side, goalline technology remains a hot topic.

“It is good to have it but the cost? You can do it in a World Cup, in the (English) Premier League but can other member associations handle the expenses? We have to be realistic and practical as well,” Sheikh Salman said.

(Reporting by Patrick Johnston, Editing by Mike Collett and Ed Osmond)

Blatter had said he planned to step down from office at the end of his latest four-year term in 2015 but opened up a loophole in March by adding that was providing he could find someone to carry on his legacy.

The 77-year-old Swiss was talking at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, discussing his reform plans when he appeared to let slip he was not going to quit the presidency in two years time.

“This will be the last term of, not of office, the last term of the reform,” Blatter said, smiling as he delivered the message.

The Swiss then went on to say that this would be the last presidential term of his reform pledges brought in to clean up the scandal hit body that has seen members routinely banned on graft charges.

UEFA president Michel Platini, who watched on Thursday as Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain won the AFC presidential election in a landslide, has long been tipped to replace Blatter.

But Blatter used his speech on Friday to take a pop at the power of the Frenchman’s European confederation, citing an unfairness in the number of World Cup places that UEFA has.

“We have to start to see the access to the World Cup, the access to the World Cup should be a little bit better balanced,” Blatter said.

“In 2014 in Brazil 32 teams, one has qualified from South America and then you have 13 teams from one of the continents, which is Europe, and possibly five more from South America,” Blatter said.

“If this happens then you have 19 out of 32 there is no chance to kick them out before one of them is in the semi-finals, this is the law of the numbers.

“We shall have a look on this, you should have a look on that and bring such items on the agenda because we should have a better balance.”

Asia has four guaranteed places at the next World Cup in Brazil with a fifth possible if another side beats a South American team in an intercontinental playoff.

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

Blatter had said he planned to step down from office at the end of his latest four-year term in 2015 but opened up a loophole in March by adding that was providing he could find someone to carry on his legacy.

The 77-year-old Swiss was talking at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, discussing his reform plans when he appeared to let slip he was not going to quit the presidency in two years time.

“This will be the last term of, not of office, the last term of the reform,” Blatter said, smiling as he delivered the message.

The Swiss then went on to say that this would be the last presidential term of his reform pledges brought in to clean up the scandal hit body that has seen members routinely banned on graft charges.

UEFA president Michel Platini, who watched on Thursday as Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain won the AFC presidential election in a landslide, has long been tipped to replace Blatter.

But Blatter used his speech on Friday to take a pop at the power of the Frenchman’s European confederation, citing an unfairness in the number of World Cup places that UEFA has.

“We have to start to see the access to the World Cup, the access to the World Cup should be a little bit better balanced,” Blatter said.

“In 2014 in Brazil 32 teams, one has qualified from South America and then you have 13 teams from one of the continents, which is Europe, and possibly five more from South America,” Blatter said.

“If this happens then you have 19 out of 32 there is no chance to kick them out before one of them is in the semi-finals, this is the law of the numbers.

“We shall have a look on this, you should have a look on that and bring such items on the agenda because we should have a better balance.”

Asia has four guaranteed places at the next World Cup in Brazil with a fifth possible if another side beats a South American team in an intercontinental playoff.

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)