Thailand elects new soccer president

BANGKOK, Mar 18 (Reuters) Thailand elected a new soccer president today on the eve of a visit by Asian soccer chiefs to assess the kingdom's readiness to stage the continent's biggest soccer tournament.

Worawi Makudi won a two-year term as Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president and takes over a day ahead of a five-day working visit by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which last year threatened to dump the Kingdom as a host for this year's Asian Cup.

Worawi, a FIFA executive committee member, was the only candidate and won all 115 votes cast, FAT officials confirmed.

He served as FAT secretary-general for 11 years and takes over from Vijit Getkaew, who quit on March 8. In his letter of resignation Vijit said he had endured excessive criticism and was tired of being the scapegoat for the national team's failures.

Worawi's election comes at a critical time for Thai soccer, with boardroom feuding, doubts over the future of the national team coach and the Asian Cup just four months away.

The AFC had last year considered replacing Thailand as a co-host for the July 7-29 tournament after it failed to meet deadlines for upgrading its Supachalasai and Rajamangala national stadiums.

The Kingdom was granted a reprieve after its soccer chiefs said months of political stalemate and a military coup had delayed the approval of a budget to carry out the work before the AFC's deadline.

Earlier this month, the Tourism and Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani said renovations to the 60,000-seater Rajamangala stadium would be completed by June 18, three weeks before the competition gets underway.

Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are the other host countries.

REUTERS SAM KP1436