NEW YORK - YAHOO'S board of directors is moving closer to choosing a new chief executive and the former head of Vodafone Group is among those being considered, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper, citing 'people familiar with the matter,' said Mr Arun Sarin, 54, who retired as CEO of Vodafone, the British mobile phone giant, in July, is among the candidates under serious consideration.

It said the references of a few key candidates from other Internet giants and technology companies were being checked 'although a decision is likely to be weeks away at the earliest.'

Yahoo has been looking for a new CEO since co-founder Jerry Yang announced last month he would step down from the post after just 18 months at the helm of the Sunnyvale, California, Internet company.

Mr Yang earned the ire of many shareholders for rejecting a US$47.5 billion (S$71.5 billion) takeover bid by US software giant Microsoft which valued the company at US$33 a share.

Yahoo has been trading since then for around US$10-12 a share.

Yahoo has been losing ground on the Internet to companies such as Google and social networks like MySpace and Facebook and the economic slowdown has hit the firm particularly hard as advertisers cut back on spending.

Mr Yang's departure came less than a month after the company announced plans to lay off at least 10 per cent of its workforce, some 1,400 employees, because of the weak economy. -- AFP