Soccer executive supports Dempsey

8:00 AM

A Tongan soccer executive has backed Charlie Dempsey's claim that he was given a free hand in voting to decide the host nation for the 2006 World Cup.

'Ahongalu Fusimalohi, who represents Tonga on the Oceania Football Confederation, says he understands six of the eleven OFC nations agreed to release Dempsey from his instructions to support South Africa's bid for the Cup once England was eliminated.

Josephine King, the general secretary of the confederation and daughter of Charlie Dempsey, has maintained that she contacted OFC members prior to last week's vote, asking that they give her father a free hand. She says six nations agreed to the request, but she will not identify them unless they give their permission.

Dempsey abstained from the final round of voting in Zurich, which allowed Germany to win the World Cup by 12 votes to 11 over South Africa. Had Dempsey voted for South Africa, the head of soccer's world governing body FIFA was expected to cast a deciding vote in favour of South Africa.

Fusimalohi has told Radio New Zealand that he believes the six countries that agreed to allow Dempsey to vote as he saw fit were: Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand soccer officials deny that they backed away from supporting South Africa. The chief executive of Soccer New Zealand, Bill McGowan, says his organisation did not give its approval to the change in instructions, and he would like to know which countries did.