The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) yesterday asked FIFA to bring forward plans to expand the World Cup to 48 teams in time for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The competition is due to be enlarged from 32 teams to 48 in time for the 2026 finals, which will be awarded either to Morocco or a joint North American bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada.
However, CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez handed over a letter at the organisation’s congress in Buenos Aires to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, signed by the heads of the 10 South American federations, urging the early expansion.
“We are asking that the 2022 World Cup be played with 48 teams,” Dominguez said.
Five CONMEBOL teams — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Peru — will go to this year’s World Cup in Russia. Under the existing qualifying system, four South American countries qualify automatically with the fifth having to come through a two-legged play-off.
For this year’s World Cup Peru beat Oceania’s top side New Zealand to make it to Russia.
The new 48-team format will give South America six places, with a seventh side going into an intercontinental play-off.
Meanwhile, Infantino said that companies had shown an interest in backing an expanded Club World Cup and indicated that soccer’s world governing body was already moving towards a grander version of the annual tournament. Reports in the New York Times and Financial Times this week said a group of companies had offered as much as $25bn to create international tournaments for FIFA. They said investors from the United States, China, Japan, and the Middle East were among those discussing proposals to expand the Club World Cup, which involves continental champions, and create a new league competition for national teams.
“For two years we have been talking about a Club World Cup with 24 teams, more inclusive and with more respect for the international calendar, with fewer games,” Infantino told reporters at the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) annual conference.
“We have studied it, we have spoken to the (FIFA decision-making) Council. We want to do something that people like... there are companies that are interested and that is a good sign that there is interest.
“The question is not if we have to do a more significant Club World Cub but rather why it hasn’t been done until now. It’s time to do it.”
The Club World Cup is an annual event that sees seven clubs, usually the winners of the continental tournaments, compete in a knock-out format.
Morocco, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates are among the nations that have hosted the tournament in recent years, with Spain’s Real Madrid having won three of the last four editions.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said Infantino had mentioned what it called “an alleged offer to buy some rights” at a FIFA Council Meeting in Bogota last month.
“We can confirm that the FIFA president mentioned an alleged offer to buy some rights at the FIFA Council meeting in Bogota. UEFA said in a statement.
“As Gianni Infantino did not provide any concrete details on what such an offer would entail and which entity would have been behind it, we have no comment to make on the topic.”
Sports / Sport
South American countries pitch for 48-team World Cup in Qatar, request submitted to FIFA
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez (R) and FIFA president Gianni Infantino pose after a press conference at the end of the 68th CONMEBOL Council meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
