LONDON -- FIFA media director Andreas Herren has described world champions France's plan to travel to Australia for a friendly international in Melbourne on November 11 as "very strange".

The fixture has been criticized by English Premier League sides Arsenal and Manchester United, and Herren suggested on Friday that FIFA may step in if a club made a complaint.

"We have friendly dates set aside and would like countries not to inconvenience the players' clubs any more than they have to. So going to Australia seems very strange," Herren was quoted as saying in the ***Mirror*** newspaper.

"It is not a usual friendly in the middle of a season and you have to understand the feelings of the clubs involved. It could affect English clubs badly.

"We are keeping a close watch but we have not been asked by any of the parties to intervene."

Arsenal Vice-Chairman David Dein, whose club will lose four players for the friendly fixture, has written to every European club who will lose players to urge them to prevent their French representatives making the 24-hour trip to Australia.

But national coach Roger Lemerre said France were "within our rights" in arranging the game, adding that his players needed good matches ahead of next year's world cup to make sure the team were well prepared.