By Andrew Warshaw
October 4 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s plan to expand the World Cup finals to 40 teams has drawn a mixed reaction from Europe and Asia.
Adding another eight teams to the finals was one of Infantino’s major presidential election platforms and he seems to bring up the subject whenever he judges the time is right, such as last week’s Confederation of African Football extraordinary congress.
But it would appear that Asia, despite being equally likely beneficiaries of any expansion, does not necessarily share Infantino’s vision. At least not yet.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) boss Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, who Infantino beat in February’s election to succeed Sepp Blatter, has come out firmly against the idea of an immediate increase in World Cup berths.
Qatar, which stages the event in 2022 and is already facing challenges of accommodating 32 teams, would be too early, he says.
“They (FIFA) have talked about increasing the number of teams from 32 to 40 but it’s still I think a bit early,” Sheikh Salman told AFP.
“We have to look to see if it makes sense and if it’s beneficial for us and for everyone, then why not? I don’t think it will be done in time for Qatar. If there are any changes it should be from 2026 onwards.”
“To have extra slots for Asia, I’m sure it would be positive. (But) we need to talk about the slots not just for Asia but for all confederations.”
Infantino’s election ploy is clearly ruffling feathers, especially in Europe. European clubs have already dismissed the idea of 40 teams and have now been joined by Joachim Low, coach of world champions Germany.
“The sporting value of the World Cup should not be watered down though I understand entirely the ambition for the smaller nations to step up on to the biggest football stage,” Loew was quoted as saying locally.
Infantino’s plan is due to be discussed at next week’s first full FIFA Council meeting but Loew added: “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 [of the tournament].”
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