New Zealand Football hopes for World Cup direct entry

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is considering giving Oceania direct entry into the FIFA World Cup. Photo / Getty Images

The All Whites path to the World Cup may be about to get a whole lot simpler.

Oceania has a chance of direct entry into the Fifa World Cup - and it is still on the table, despite New Zealand's Football's vote against the re-elected Fifa President Sepp Blatter this morning.

Possibly as early as Sunday morning (NZT), an automatic World Cup spot for the Oceania representatives could be confirmed by a special general meeting of Fifa's executive commitee.

That will be chaired by Blatter, who was returned by a convincing margin in today's Congress vote. Despite the dramas of the past week and a resolute bloc of opposition, the Swiss took more than 65 per cent of the vote in the first ballot before challenger Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein withdrew before the second.

The Fifa executive committee will now convene overnight (NZT), with the allocation of World Cup places among Fifa's six confederations high on the agenda. NZF CEO Andy Martin believes there is a genuine chance that Oceania could gain an automatic spot into Fifa's showpiece event, instead of the current half place and inter-continental playoff system.

Martin said Blatter talked of the need to "rebalance the confederations" during the Congress and mentioned Oceania on several occasions.

"We could see a scenario where Oceania has direct entry into the World Cup," said Martin from Zurich. "That could be the silver lining out of today's events."

Blatter has long been a strong advocate of an automatic spot for Oceania. "We are working on this," he told the Herald on Sunday last year. "Football is a global game and we need to give incentives and opportunities to every confederation to ensure continued growth while also trying to maintain the highest possible level of competitiveness at these showpiece events."

The Oceania Football Confederation, led by their President David Chung, has also been lobbying behind the scenes for a long time.

"Blatter agrees in principle and verbally he promised he will fight for us," Chung told the Herald on Sunday last year. "Whether it comes to reality or not is another question but we will see."

However it remains to be seen if New Zealand's very public vote of no confidence in Blatter has an impact. The Fifa President has incredible influence within the Executive committee, but will he still want to go out on a limb for Oceania?

Martin remains positive.

"I don't think so," he said, when asked if New Zealand's stance could impact on Oceania's chance. "Blatter mentioned the need for change."

Meanwhile, Martin added that he has no regrets about NZF stance over the last 24 hours.

"None, not at all," said Martin. "We want to be transparent [and] have nothing to hide. It's clear to us that we have done the right thing."