Infantino says federations support 48-team WC

Denzil Pinto 08:05 29/12/2016
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  • Gianni Infantino.

    The 46-year-old has not been afraid to express his wish to see more teams competing in the global tournament since taking the top job in February. The Swiss has already recommended proposals of 40 and 48 teams for the 2026 edition and despite opposition from The European Clubs Association, he insists global members are “all clearly in favour” of having a bigger tournament.

    “I am still convinced to expand the participation in the World Cup to more than 32 teams,” he said at the Dubai International Sports Conference Saturday.

    “We would still consider to increase the competition to 40 or 48 teams. A tournament of 48 teams would have the same period of the current one, and federations are all clearly in favour of a World Cup with more teams.”

    If the FIFA Council does agree with his idea in January’s board meeting, Infantino is adamant that players will still play the same number of games as in the current 32-team format, which has been played since 1998.

    Currently, the champions play a maximum of seven games and under his vision, the schedule would still be the same – 16 groups of three teams with the top two reaching the knockouts.

    “We can do the tournament in the same number of days and do it in the same number of matches (seven). In this way, it doesn’t increase the burden on the players,” he said.

    “The decision should not be financial driven but the target should be for the development. Forty-eight teams means 27 per cent of our membership will be there.”

    He added: “It’s more than a football competition. It’s a global event played every four years and it focuses the world’s eyes on our pinnacle sport.

    “When we speak about expansion, we speak about inclusion by allowing more countries to participate. If you’re serious about developing football, then we can invest as much money as we want.

    “But there’s nothing better than boosting the profile of a country by participating in a World Cup.”

    Only once has the competition been hosted by more than one country with Japan and South Korea staging the 2002 edition.

    Joint bids by Netherlands and Belgium, and Spain and Belgium were unsuccessful in the 2018 bidding with Russia winning the vote.

    And with the competition moving to the Middle East in Qatar for the first time in 2022, Infantino has hinted there’s every possibility that the 2026 edition could be played in more than one country.

    “When it comes to the World Cup 2026 bids, we have decided already that the process will begin at the next congress next summer,” he added.

    “We will allow for joint bids of more than one country to bid. Our requirements for such events are very high and sometimes one country alone cannot organise a World Cup.

    “Why should we exclude nations and this is the reason why we have opened the possibility of joint-bidders for the World Cup.”

    North America has been mooted as a possible destination for their first World Cup since USA 1994.

    And CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has said officials from Mexico, USA and Canada will need to discuss whether to go ahead as the first three-nation joint-bid.

    “We’ve been very clear in our innuendo of whether to host a World Cup in 2026,” he said.

    “From our point, it’s not just a football competition for us. It’s a social event. We will have to sit down all in one place and talk this through before each country makes a decision.”

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