MUMBAI: FIFA has said that it will hold a formal discussion about having 48 teams instead of the usual 32 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar at its Pre-Russia 2018 Congress on June 13 in Moscow, a few days before the start of World Cup.
According to a Sky Sports report, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is keen on the expansion to take place earlier than the initially approved plan in January 2017, of making the move in the World Cup 2026. Infantino reportedly mulled the idea first after attending a meeting of the South American confederation CONMEBOL in Buenos Aires last month.
At that meeting, Infantino told reporters that the South American proposal was “very interesting” and worthy to be considered, and affirmed his commitment to expanding the World Cup “for the development of football”.
It is also believed that this move has been timed strategically ahead of the FIFA presidency elections next year.
However, it won’t be easy for Infantino as Qatar, the host nation of the 2022 World Cup is believed to be strongly opposed to the plan since the pressure on them would mount to share the hosting rights with neighbouring states.
With costs and the legacy risk of white elephants, the organizers’ stadium plan of trimming the number of venues from 12 to 8 would go for a toss since a game would then have to be hosted every third day.
