Quality could suffer in a 40-team World Cup: Yorke
Coming from region represented by Jack Warner, now facing criminal charges and banned for life by Fifa, it is understandable that Dwight Yorke would say he endorsed Gianni Infantino’s candidature for presidency of football’s apex organisation. He is, however, not as enthusiastic about Infantino’s pet project — of expanding the World Cup to 40 teams from 2026 — one he repeated in Nigeria earlier this week. Yorke thinks it is eight teams too many.
Speaking to HT here on Wednesday, Yorke said there should be a debate about expansion. “32 teams seem enough. The World Cup should be once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for teams and players. Yes, we want the so-called lesser teams to get opportunities but I think we are already doing that with 32 teams in the finals,” said Yorke, an ambassador for Manchester United and skipper for Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 finals. “That’s because you don’t want to take away quality. Look at the Euros this year; teams coming third in the group were still getting the opportunity to come through the knockout stages. And though I am pleased for (Cristiano) Ronaldo because he is a personal friend, the way they (Portugal) went about qualifying and then gone on to win the Euros does take a little bit of sting out of it. And that’s from a personal point of view.”
The European championships were expanded to 24 teams from 16 this year. ‘CLOSED LEAGUE NOT NEEDED IN INDIA’ Yorke has played in the closed A-League and Premier League, which has promotion and relegation. Asked for his thoughts on the league India want to start in 201718, where the top tier will be closed possibly because ISL franchises have an agreement that guarantees participation for 10 years, Yorke said it could have promotion and relegation. “You can facilitate it. India needs to structure it well, get the right management and improve the league in terms of quality.” Yorke’s comment comes one day before the executive committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) meets in New Delhi to discuss suggestions from I-League clubs on the proposed merger of the I-League and the ISL in 2017-18. Yorke said the ISL has been reasonably successful because “you now have a big population eager for football”. But he said for the league to grow, teams would have to look beyond ‘retirees’. “Eventually it will be about quality,” he said. Here on a whistle-stop visit from China, where Manchester United’s presseason tour ended this week, Yorke said India can be such a destination. “Manchester United has 35 million supporters in India and if you do your homework, there’s no reason why India can’t be a prime destination for Premier League teams to play here at this time,” he said.