As though the
World Cup isn't hard enough to win, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is looking
to add another 16 teams to the competition. The proposal would see a playoff
round added prior to the group stages, with the 16 defeated nations going home
after playing just one match. From then on, the
remaining 32 teams would progress through the tournament as usual."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," Infantino told reporters at an event in Bogota, Colombia.
"They would
play for the remaining 16 places. It means we continue with a normal World Cup
for 32 teams, but 48 teams go to the party."One of Infantino's proposals
in his presidential manifesto was to increase the number of teams competing in
World Cups to 40 after Qatar 2022. A decision is set to
be made on the plans at the FIFA Council Meeting in January 2017. The bidding
process for the 2026 tournament had been due to take place next year, but has
been put on hold amid allegations of corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022
votes.
"These are
ideas to find the best solution. We will debate them this month and we will
decide everything by 2017," Infantino continued. "They are ideas
which we put forward to see which one is the best. "FIFA's idea is
to develop football in the whole world, and the World Cup is the biggest event
there is," he said. "It's more than a competition, it's a social
event." However, Infantino's expansion plans have been met with criticism
and opposition from high-profile names in the sport.
Germany's 2014 World
Cup-winning coach Joachim Low told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag the
addition of teams would "dilute" the competition. "I absolutely
understand for the smaller nations who, thanks to this, could take their place
on the big stage," he said.
"We have to be
aware that in the long run the quality will suffer. We should not overdo it. I
don't think it's a good idea to dilute the sporting value."
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