NZ Football could abstain in Fifa vote

New Zealand Football CEO Andy Martin won't reveal who NZF will vote for in the FIFA presidential election tonight but they are considering abstaining from the vote.

Martin said a decision on the vote will be made after an Oceania Football Conference meeting tonight.

NZF have previously backed Sepp Blatter but Martin won't say if he has their support following the corruption scandal that has hit FIFA over the last few days.

Ali bin Al-Hussein from Jordan is the only other person running against Blatter.

"We've done very well under the current regime but that's not to say things can't change," Martin said today.

Martin said Oceania wouldn't vote in a block with each association making its own decision and said "abstinence from voting is an option".

"Once we get into congress it's every man for himself."

Martin confirmed that he's had a long conversion with Prince Ali.

"In the manifesto of the challenger, there is a very clear statement of intent about how he plans to deal with broadening and extending the entry into the World Cup. That's one factor, but it's not a factor really that will determine our vote. Our vote is about integrity, not whether or not New Zealand can get into the World Cup easier."

"I've had personal contact with Prince Ali, we've spoken to him at length, we've spoken to Jerome Valcke at length, we've had handshakes with Sepp Blatter as he walked the floor tonight but we've not had any personal time with him. We've had a lot of time with a lot of the countries tonight, with Uefa, Asia, Australia and the other memebers of OFC. We've worked hard to get a very good sense of where everyone is this evening. There's a lot of frustration, confusion and people looking for clarity."

Andy Martin: Our vote is about integrity, not whether we can make World Cups more easily #FIFA

— Jason Pine (@pineynz) May 28, 2015

Martin said the main thrust of tomorrow's vote would revolve around the Member Associations deciding if Blatter, a man who has overseen repeated, proven cases of corruption, should be able to continue in his role.

"What we can take comfort from is the decision tomorrow will be based upon votes from the 209 Member Associations, so if everyone has the same view, then it should be a slam dunk. We'll wait and see what happens tomorrow."

Football Australia have publicly stated they want Blatter ousted as president in the wake of the unprecedented corruption scandal engulfing football.

Martin confirmed there were expectations the next Fifa president would be in New Zealand shortly to attend the under-20 World Cup. Martin expected the president to attend the final and possibly the semifinals.

Martin described the atmosphere around the Fifa meetings in Zurich as "quite bizarre".

"The itinerary has gone out the window," he said.

Football Federation Australia will vote for Prince Ali at the looming election.

"FFA believes that profound change within FIFA is needed as soon as possible to address issues of governance and transparency," FFA chairman Frank Lowy said in a statement on Thursday night.

UEFA have also said they won't be voting for Blatter.

While Sunil Gulati, US Soccer president announced today that USA will vote for Prince Ali. Canada Soccer Association will also support Prince Ali.