SYDNEY, May 4: A record nine countries have entered the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2004 Athens Olympics after soccer’s world governing body agreed for the first time to award the regional champion an automatic place in the Games.

Nine countries nominated a team in the men’s qualifying competition while eight nations also entered a side in the women’s draw.

Oceania officials have proposed the men’s qualifiers be held in June 2003 and the women’s in March 2004.

The men’s draw will be split into two round-robin pools, to be played in Australia and New Zealand, with the two group winners meeting in a home-and-away playoff to decide who goes to Athens.

The women’s tournament will follow a similar format except both pools will be played in the Cook Islands and the group winners will meet in a one-off final.

Australia, as hosts of the Sydney Olympics, represented Oceania at the 2000 Games.

Men’s draw - Australia, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu

Women’s draw - Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands.—Reuters