ZURICH, Sept 27: FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes future World Cup finals should not be decided by penalties and said changes could be in place for the showpiece tournament in South Africa in four years.

Italy's win over France on penalties made up for their 1994 final defeat by Brazil in a shootout, but Blatter said the manner of deciding it was “a tragedy”.

He said a replay or gradually deducting players in extra time would be a better solution.

“We have four years or so, so I think we have time,” Blatter said.

“Maybe to replay the match if it's the final, you can't do that through the tournament because of lack of time. Maybe to take players away and play golden goal,” Blatter said, adding that high-level discussions would start soon.

“When it comes to the World Cup final it is passion, and when it goes to extra time it is a drama,” he said. “But when it comes to penalty kicks it is a tragedy.”—Reuters