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Sydney - Australia and New Zealand applauded Wednesday FIFA President Sepp Blatter's resignation and called for the culture of the entire organisation to change.
Blatter, who has ruled the world's most powerful sports federation for 17 years, quit on Tuesday as the weight of corruption scandals threatened world football's governing body.
Australia, which controversially failed in its bid to host the 2022 World Cup in favour of Qatar, broke ranks with the Asian Football Confederation to vote against his re-election last Friday.
"FIFA needs fresh leadership and the resignation of the president is a first step," Football Federation Australia said in a statement.
"The challenge is not just to change the top elected position, but the governance structure at all levels and the culture that underpins it.
"Australia will remain an active voice within the forums of FIFA and AFC in promoting governance reform and a new era of transparency."
New Zealand, which also snubbed Blatter to vote for his challenger Prince Ali of Jordan, welcomed his departure as long overdue.
"It should have happened on Friday, so it's a great day for football," New Zealand Football chief executive Andy Martin told Radio New Zealand.
"We can all get together now and start repairing the tarnished brand of football."
