'Threatened' FIFA Exec Replaced

Monday, July 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) â€” The FIFA member who said he was threatened before the vote for the 2006 World Cup has been replaced on the executive committee of soccer's ruling body.

Fiji's Sahu Khan will succeed New Zealand's Charles Dempsey as the Oceania representative. The decision came after a weekend vote in Sydney.

Dempsey abstained during the final ballot on July 6 when Germany beat South Africa by one vote to hold the 2006 World Cup.

If Dempsey had voted for South Africa as instructed in the final round, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, a supporter of the South African bid, would have cast the deciding vote.

Dempsey had blamed ``unsustainable pressure'' from bidders and threats from ``influential European interests'' for his decision to abstain.

He decided to quit his FIFA and Oceania jobs after meeting with Oceania executives on his return to Auckland. The vote for the presidency of the Oceania federation will take place in October.