Britain could lose FIFA vice-presidency

The automatic right of a British representative to be one of seven FIFA vice-presidents will be challenged at next month's annual congress in Zurich.

The automatic right of a British representative to be one of seven FIFA vice-presidents will be challenged at next month's annual congress in Zurich.

The post, currently held by Scotland's David Will, has attracted a growing amount of resentment in recent years. Many associations see the position as outdated in the modern football world.

The FIFA Congress will vote on proposals to change the structure of the body's Executive Committee when it meets next month, soccer's world governing body said Tuesday.

Four Caribbean federations jointly have proposed to the FIFA Congress that it should abolish the post of one of the six vice presidents.

The federations want to change the situation in which one post historically has been held by one of the four British associations.

Ironically their parent federation, CONCACAF, was the only block vote to back England in the recent 2006 World Cup vote.

Under the Caribbean plan, Europe would still have the same number of members on the executive committee because an extra member would be appointed and that berth would be allocated to the European governing body, UEFA.

Meanwhile, the Oceania Football Confederation has proposed that its one berth on the committee should be promoted to that of a vice president.

The Oceania post is vacant following last week's resignation of Charles Dempsey from both FIFA and the OFC. It was Dempsey's abstention in the vote for the host of the 2006 World Cup earlier this month which handed the event to Germany rather than South Africa.

The congress, which meets on August 4-5, also will vote on an application by the Bhutan Football Federation to become FIFA's 204th member, FIFA said.

The congress, which includes all the national associations, will hear reports on a series of FIFA initiatives, including the harmonization of the international calendar and the establishment of football arbitration tribunals.

The Executive Committee, which meets on August 3, is expected to consider a series of proposals to change the way World Cup hosts are selected, including the possibility of rotating the event between continents.