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Australian football now part of Asia

Australian football now part of Asia Australia has officially become a member of the Asian Football Confederation. After a year in which Football Federation Australia successfully launched the A-League and the Socceroos claimed their first berth in the World Cup in 32 years, the FFA completed the third of its three main objectives when it left Oceania and was officially welcomed into the AFC at midnight. Australia's first involvement with Asia will be on Wednesday at the 2007 Asian Cup draw in Kuala Lumpur. The Socceroos, whose newcomer status relegates them to the lowest possible pot for the draw of six, four-team groups, will

ONeill eyes Asia, then world

ONeill eyes Asia, then world FOOTBALL Federation Australia has set its sights on hosting the Asian Cup finals in 2011, chief executive John ONeill said yesterday. And the odds are he could still be around to see the move come off. Despite the fact he has played a big role in the turnaround of Australian soccer over the past two-and-a-half years, with his contract due to run out there has been conjecture over ONeills future at FFA. While he has been reluctant to discuss the matter over the past few months, he gave the clearest indication yet that he will be staying

Oceania could join Asia playoffs - Blatter

Oceania could join Asia playoffs - Blatter President of world governing body Fifa, Sepp Blatter, yesterday said future champions of Oceania could join the final round of Asian qualifiers for future World Cups. Oceania's current "half" place could shrink if the regional winners had to join a group of Asian teams instead of being involved in a two-leg playoff against a fifth-ranked South American team for direct World Cup qualification. "I think the solution will be to have the winner of the Oceania elimination join the Asian group," Blatter told reporters in Tokyo. "I don't know if we will say it's

Lebanon pulls out of Asia Cup

Lebanon pulls out of Asia Cup Lebanon today pulled out of Australias Asian Cup soccer qualifying group due to the crisis engulfing the country. The Lebanon Football Association sent a letter of withdrawal to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), saying it could not continue in the competition due to the tragic circumstances our country and people are passing through as a result of the barbaric attack imposed on Lebanon by the Israeli Army. Australia was due to play Lebanon at Adelaide Oval on August 31 and again in Beirut on November 15. The AFC Management Board will convene an emergency meeting today

Barcelonas Tiger-back ride to Asia

Barcelonas Tiger-back ride to Asia FC BARCELONA, football champions of Europe, are coming to Asia - thanks to Singapores Tiger Beer. As European football kingpins and proud owners of a domestic double in the 2005-2006 season, Barcelona are now gunning for a strong Asian presence. And they hope to achieve this through agressive strategic tie-ups with partners in China, Japan and South-east Asia, to be formalised this week. Yesterday, the Catalan team signed a three-year partnership deal with Singapores Tiger Beer. A few more deals in China and Japan are in order by the end of the week. For a club owned