Philadelphia ? Baseball commissioner Bud Selig received a contract extension through 2009 Thursday as owners praised his 12-year reign, but dissension surfaced among teams in the decision to launch a World Cup tournament.

Selig, who has presided over revolutionary changes in the most traditional of major U.S. sports, was given the three-year extension in a unanimous vote of the 30 teams. If he serves out the new term, he will have held the job for 17 years — the second-longest tenure behind Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who became the first commissioner in 1920 and held the job until he died in 1944.

The 70-year-old Selig, whose family controls the Milwaukee Brewers, became acting commissioner in 1992 after leading the group that forced Fay Vincent’s resignation. Selig was given a five-year term in July 1998, and three years later owners extended it through 2006.

“In September 1992, I told my wife when I got on off the plane, she asked how long it would be, and I said, ‘Two to four months,'” Selig recalled. “It’s got to be the longest two to four months in history.”

In April 2003, he said his current term would be his last.

“I had a series of owners who asked me after that time not to close my mind, and they were a little surprised that I had said that,” Selig said. “Once they have articulated that, I believe that my responsibility and my feeling for the sport is such that I want to do what they think is in the best interests of the sport. … I finally felt it was the right thing to do.”

Selig could be commissioner-for-life if he wanted to, according to several owners.

“At this point, yes,” the New York Mets’ Fred Wilpon said. “God willing, Bud’s health will be good. His own interest may change. But right now I’d say yes.”

Colorado Rockies vice chairman Jerry McMorris said the group would have extended Selig’s term for however long he desired.

“If he had wanted six years, seven years, 10 years, I think he would have gotten it today,” McMorris said.

They also gave their preliminary go-ahead for the launch of a World Cup tournament, which Selig finally admitted could not begin until 2006. However, the Chicago White Sox, Detroit and Kansas City voted against the World Cup, and the New York Yankees abstained.