Blatter tries to liven up World Cup

FIFA President Sepp Blatter smiles as he addresses a news conference at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich October 29, 2010.

ZURICH (Reuters) - FIFA, disappointed at cagey tactics by teams in the first round of matches at the World Cup this year, is setting up a task force to look at ways of making the game more attractive.

Sepp Blatter, president of soccer's governing body, said the intention was to find solutions to be introduced in time for the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

"Nobody really wants to lose one of these (first round) matches, we had five or six draws in South Africa, so let's see how we can make football more attractive," he told reporters after a meeting of FIFA's executive committee.

Blatter said his task force would have representatives of the players, coaches, doctors and referees. He said he had made the proposal to the executive committee himself.

He did not elaborate, although in September Blatter told FIFA's website that one solution might be to abolish extra-time, with drawn matches in the knockout stages going straight to penalties.

Another possibility, he said at the time, might be the return of the golden goal rule that was used at the 1996 and 2000 European championships and the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.