Infantino: 48 teams feasible for Qatar WCup
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said yesterday that football’s governing body is looking into the possibility of increasing the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup and sharing the hosting rights of an expanded tournament with other nations in the region.
FIFA decided earlier this year to expand the 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, to 48 teams from 32 while leaving the door open to raising the number playing in Qatar in four years’ time.
“We have decided to increase the number of teams participating in the World Cup final tournaments from 32 to 48 and this will happen in 2026,” Infantino said in an address to the Asian Football Confederation’s annual congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Will it happen in 2022? We are looking at it. If it is possible, why not?”
Infantino said an expanded tournament would see Asia’s allocation rise to 8.5 places from 4.5.
“We have to see if it is possible, if it is feasible. We are discussing with our Qatari friends, we are discussing with our many other friends in the region and we hope that this can happen,” he added.
“And, if not, we will have tried. We will have tried because we always have to try to do things in a better way.”
Tiny Gulf state Qatar, which is home to just over 2.5 million people, was awarded the hosting rights in late 2010 and has been planning for a 32-team tournament since.
Infantino acknowledged that to increase the number of teams in 2022 would require the cooperation of other countries in the region.
Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa, meanwhile, has pledged his support to the reelection campaign of Infantino, who beat the Bahraini in the FIFA presidential election in 2015. “We will be full supporting you to do your work at FIFA,” he told Infantino yesterday.
“There is still a lot of work to do and you are the man to complete that task. You can count on us and you can count of Asia, Mr President.”
The sheikh also warned against a return to “turmoil and instability” as he launched his bid to retain his position at the helm of the AFC.
Sheikh Salman, who is seeking a third term in office, was first elected AFC president in 2013 to complete the term of disgraced former president Mohammed bin Hammam.
Bin Hammam was banned for life by FIFA in 2011 and the AFC was led by interim president Zhang Jilong of China until Sheikh Salman’s successful election.
The Bahraini was reelected to his post in 2015 and is seeking another term in office when the confederation’s elections are held on April 6, next year.
“We all remember only too well the problems of the past, that period of turmoil and instability,” he told the AFC congress.
“No one wants to return to that image of the AFC and I’m determined we shall not. We also need to protect the AFC and the member associations from unwanted third party interference.”
Sheikh Salman’s hopes of retaining his position were boosted when the congress passed an amendment to rules governing the election process allowing candidates to be nominated by member associations other than their home federation.
Former Saudi Arabia Football Federation president Adel Ezzat publicly stated his intention to stand against Sheikh Salman last year. However, his hopes of building a power base suffered a blow on Tuesday when members of the South Asian Football Federation withdrew from the Saudi-created South West Asian Football Federation.