MIAMI: The FIFA Council took a number of crucial decisions for the future of the game at its recent meeting on Friday in the city. Importantly, the council backed the feasibility study created for the expansion of the 2022 World Cup in the Middle East.
However, it will only go ahead with the move if Qatar’s neighbouring countries agree to step up as co-hosts and work in co-operation with each other as 48 teams means greater number of matches. The FIFA Congress will take a final call on the issue on 5 June in its Paris meeting, once it finalises the approval of all stakeholders involved.
Ahead of the AFC Cup in January, UAE expressed a willingness to join as co-hosts if required by the FIFA. However, the operative word here is “co-operation”. With the Emirates being a part of a five-nation grouping of Gulf states (led by Saudi Arabia and also including Egypt and Bahrain) that have broken diplomatic ties and established an economic blockade against Qatar, that offer looks to be a non-starter.
Besides a bigger 2022 World Cup, another dream of FIFA president Gianni Infantino is set to be fulfilled as the Club World Cup is set for a major revamp. It will be played between 24 teams and will begin in June-July 2021.
The tournament will be played during the international match calendar slot that corresponds to the FIFA Confederations Cup. The 24 teams will be split into eight groups of three teams each, with the group winners to qualify for the quarter-finals in a knockout format. Further details such as the proposed match schedule and the slot allocation for representatives of each confederation will be discussed further and decided at a later stage.
The decision to overhaul the FIFA Club World Cup comes after a thorough consultation process that started in 2016 and involved the FIFA Council, the Football Stakeholders Committee, the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions, the member associations at the Executive Football Summits, as well as bilateral discussions with professional football stakeholders.
It remains to be seen whether Europe, in the form of UEFA, will continue to oppose the move and ask its clubs to not participate in it since it directly threatens the existence of the popular Champions League competition.
The Council also approved the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system for the first time ever in the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer in France. It also announced that the hosts for the 2023 edition of the event will be declared in March 2020, five months after all federations submit their official bids to the governing body.
For junior global events, while India was named as hosts of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020, Brazil was declared the new hosts of the U-17 Men’s World Cup this year following the backing out of South American neighbours Peru.
