Fifa still looking at prospect of expanding 2022 World Cup to 48 teams
Manchester City CEO calls idea ‘logical’ – but only if players do not play more games
Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, has confirmed the sport’s ruling body is looking in to the feasibility of extending the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams, and staging matches elsewhere in the Gulf.
The competition will definitely be increased from 32 teams by the time of the 2026 event, in Canada, United States and Mexico.
Fifa is, though, considering whether it would be possible to do so four years ahead of schedule, when the competition is played in Qatar.
Infantino believes increasing the size of the first World Cup to be played in the Middle East might mean having to play matches in neighbouring countries.
“The discussion is not anymore, ‘Is it good or is it bad that it goes to 48 teams,’ it is, ‘Can we do it earlier’?” Infantino said, speaking at the Dubai International Sports Conference yesterday. “If you think it is a good thing to have 48 teams in a World Cup, and we will have it in 2026, why shouldn’t we try to have it already four years before? It is never too late to do something good, which is why we are analysing whether it is possible to have 48 teams in 2022.
“It will be quite a challenge, to say it diplomatically correct, to have 48 teams in Qatar.
“Thirty-two is possible, which is what is going to happen, but if we can increase to 48 and make the world happy, we should try it. If we can maybe convince some of the neighbouring countries in the Gulf region, who are very close by, can stage maybe a few games in to the World Cup, that could be very beneficial, not just for the region but for the world.”
Infantino believes the ongoing diplomatic boycott of Qatar by countries including the UAE does not preclude the possibility of a cross-border Gulf World Cup.
“I am not naïve,” Infantino said. “I read the news and watch the media, so I know the headlines that there are tensions in this particular region.
“It is up to the respective leaders to deal with them. But, maybe. It is easier to talk about a joint football project than other things.
“If it can help all the people in the Gulf, and all the countries of the world, to develop football, if it can bring a positive message for what football can do, then we should give it a try.”
Ferran Soriano, the chief executive of the company that owns Manchester City, is in favour of a revamped and expanded Club World Cup – so long as players are not obliged to play any more matches than they presently do.
Real Madrid won a third successive Fifa Club World Cup when they beat Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi last month.
The competition seems set to be the last one to be played in the seven-team, knockout guise, with Fifa planning to restructure the event to involve a greater number of teams and fixtures.
The game’s ruling body are considering a 24-team tournament, played every four years, possibly starting in 2021, involving up to 12 teams from Europe.
Soriano, who is the chief executive of City Football Group, which administers six clubs including English champions Manchester City, said a new global club event is “logical”.
“In principal and conceptually, having a global, worldwide club competition makes sense,” Soriano said, speaking at the Dubai International Sports Conference yesterday.
“Improving this format and changing it for the best seems logical.
“There are all sorts of political issues because the world of football is global, it is a big family, and among the members of the family there are different interests, and they have merit. [But] if we play more games, we have to take games off.
“The players cannot play more games. I know sometimes, from a fan’s perspective it seems like the life of a football player is a great life, but they work a lot. They are under a lot of pressure.
“They have, if they are lucky, four or five weeks of rest through the year. There are many other sports where players rest for two or three months.”
Zvonimir Boban, the deputy secretary of Fifa, expects a decision on the format of the event to be made in March.
“In the initial consultation phase we made a few errors, political errors, without meaning to do so,” Boban, the former Croatia and AC Milan player, said.
“Now we are correcting everything. Fifa has an obligation and duty to think about the clubs. Fifa in the past has been accused of not thinking about the clubs.
“Now we would like to offer something to the clubs on a global stage, because they are global brands and the real families of football.”
The reshaping of the Club World Cup would mean an end to the Confederations Cup, according to Boban.
“This World Cup for the clubs is a very strange one, and we have a Confederations Cup, which should be cancelled in the case that we organise the new one,” Boban said.
“Having a quadrennial tournament, we believe will be something good for football, very entertaining, a top competition.”
Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, said the World Cup remains the “most powerful” competition in football, and he wants the club version to be more closely aligned to it.
“Fifa today has a Club World Cup already, but it is not really anything close to what the national teams’ World Cup is,” Infantino said.
“In the Club World Cup, we should have the best players of the world participating, and they play for the best clubs.
“Clubs are multinational. Here in Dubai, everyone talks to me about Mohamed Salah. He plays for Liverpool. He is not from the Emirates, he is from Egypt, which is on another continent.
“But it shows that club football has as an impact worldwide, and we need to do something to ensure we have true competition.”