FIFA may be ready to give Eriksson his big break

Sven-Goran Eriksson's campaign to stop mental and physical burnout destroying England's 2006 World Cup hopes is set to receive a major boost tonight.

A meeting of world governing body FIFA is expected to support Eriksson's call for a break of up to a month between the end of the 2006 domestic season and the start of the finals in Germany.

It is widely believed that many stars played too many games for their clubs before the 2002 finals in South Korea and Japan and player burnout contributed to the surprise early exit of defending champions France.

The debate intensified last month when a UEFA report on Euro 2004 said "tired minds" were clearly a problem when major nations Spain, Italy and Germany left Portugal after the group stage.

UEFA also expressed serious concerns about why players such as Paul Scholes are increasinglyturning their backs on playing for their country before they reach 30.

Eriksson wants the authorities to provide a four-week break for England in 2006 which would allow the players to take a week's rest before beginning three weeks of preparation for the finals which kick-off on 9 June 2006.

This would mean the Football Association bringing forward the FA Cup final and UEFA rearranging the Champions League final for early May. The Premier League would also need to rearrange some fixtures.