FIFA president, Gianni Infantino has made a fresh proposal to expand the World Cup to 48 teams, as part of efforts by world football’s governing body to open up its showpiece tournament to more nations.
The World Cup has remained at 32 teams since its 1998 edition in France, but plans to expand it to 40 nations have long been mooted. Indeed, Infantino made a 40-team World Cup a key part of his manifesto as he was elected to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in February.
Speaking in the Colombian capital of Bogota, Infantino suggested that a 48-team World Cup would see 16 nations eliminated after a single knockout match before the tournament moves on to its traditional 32-team group stage format. A final decision on potential expansion will reportedly be taken at a meeting of the FIFA Council in January.
“These are ideas to find the best solution, we will debate them this month and we will decide everything by 2017,” Infantino said, according to the Reuters news agency. “They are ideas which we put forward to see which one is the best.”
Infantino’s suggestion is likely to be welcomed by Asian and African members, who have long been keen to up their involvement in the tournament. The FIFA president said his suggestion was to have a preliminary knockout round involving 32 teams played in the World Cup host country, with the 16 winners reaching the group stage. A further 16 seeded teams would receive a bye into the group stage, he said.
“The idea is that 16 teams would qualify directly to the group stage and the other 32 would play in a preliminary phase, in the country where the World Cup is being played – they would play for the remaining 16 places,” he said.
“It means we continue with a normal World Cup for 32 teams, but 48 teams go to the party. FIFA’s idea is to develop football in the whole world, and the World Cup is the biggest event there is. It’s more than a competition, it’s a social event.”
Credit: Sport Business
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