Australian and New Zealand soccer officials said yesterday they could lose millions of sponsorship dollars following a decision by the ruling body FIFA to strip Oceania of direct World Cup qualification.

　　Soccer Australia's acting chairman Les Avory said FIFA "should be ashamed of themselves."

　　"How can you throw someone a lifeline...and then cut us adrift? We're either part of the family or we're not," he said.

　　Sponsorships with Australian television's Seven Network and airline Qantas are in jeopardy, Avory added.

　　New Zealand Soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan said the decision will also cost hissgroupsmoney.

　　"It's an absolutely unbelievable decision which came from nowhere. This is just politics of the highest level," MacGowan said.

　　Australia and New Zealand are the two leading teams in the confederation, with the others made up of Pacific Island countries with limited soccer programs.

　　Oceania won the right to direct entry to the World Cup for the first time in December last year, but that decision was overturned at an executive meeting of the governing body in Paris on Saturday.

　　The decision leaves the 2006 World Cup with 32 teams, with South America gaining the chance to send a fifth team to the tournament through playoffs and Oceania losing its guaranteed berth.

　　FIFA said part of the reason for the switch was the disarray within Soccer Australia - thesgroupshas been hit by leadership and financial problems - and New Zealand's poor performance at the Confederations Cup in France.

　　Australian coach Frank Farina said the decision was a political one, made to appease the powerful South American confederation which was upset at losing a World Cup finals spot to Oceania.

　　"It's a disgrace. You don't need to be a brain surgeon to realize it's a political decision," Farina said yesterday.

　　But federal Sports Minister Rod Kemp said bad management by Soccer Australia, which has not been able to decide on a new chairman or board of directors this year, and not sporting politics was to blame.

　　Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected last year as FIFA head with Oceania's support and had initially backed Oceania's direct entry, has not said how Oceania will qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals.

　　Ahongalu Fusimalohi of Tonga, Oceania's only member of the executive committee, said that FIFA had made his region into a "laughing stock."

　　Fusimalohi walked out of the meeting in protest along with Australia's Basil Scarsella, the president of the Oceania confederation.

　　FIFA's executive committee turned down a proposal by South America to increase the World Cup finals field by four nations to 36. FIFA also said the field will not be raised for the 2010 event.

　　Under the allotment approved by the executive committee in December, Europe was awarded 14 spots, including host Germany, a drop from 15 at the 2002 tournament.

　　Africa remained at five teams, and Asia stayed at four teams with the chance to get another berth in a playoff.

　　North and Central America and the Caribbean, which had three spots, was given the chance for a fourth through a playoff with the No 5 Asian team.