{"id":29584,"date":"2017-01-10T20:32:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T20:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=29584"},"modified":"2017-01-10T20:33:18","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T20:33:18","slug":"fifa-approves-48-team-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=29584","title":{"rendered":"FIFA approves 48-team World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0AFP . Zurich<\/span>\u00a0(Jan 10, 2017):\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>FIFA\u2019s ruling council on Tuesday unanimously approved an expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026, with a format of 16 groups of three nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team #WorldCup as of 2026: 16 groups of 3 teams,\u201d a tweet from FIFA\u2019s official account said.<\/p>\n

The decision marks a major coup for the body\u2019s president Gianni Infantino who has made enlarging football\u2019s showcase event the centerpiece of his young administration.<\/p>\n

The controversial proposal had faced criticism from some of the sport\u2019s most powerful voices, including warnings that it would dilute the quality of play and overburden already exhausted players.<\/p>\n

But Infantino had in recent weeks voiced confidence that his flagship project would be approved.<\/p>\n

The FIFA chief has noted that a bigger tournament would beef up FIFA\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n

And a confidential FIFA report was seen by AFP projects a 48-team tournament would bring a cash boost of $640 million (605 million euros) above projected revenues for next year\u2019s finals in Russia.<\/p>\n

But Infantino has also argued that more World Cup berths would help drive football\u2019s global growth by boosting \u201cinclusion\u201d in the \u201cbiggest social and sporting event\u201d.<\/p>\n

Big winners –<\/p>\n

Among those who seemed convinced by that argument was Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, who on Monday said a 48-team format \u201cwill give more possibilities to countries that have never reached that level of competition\u201d.<\/p>\n

Africa and Asia could be the big winners in a larger format with a rise in their number of places, currently at 5 and 4.5 respectively.<\/p>\n

But in order to smooth over skepticism about World Cup reform within UEFA, it is likely that Europe will also see its allotments rise above the current 13 places.<\/p>\n

A source close to FIFA told AFP that under the new format Europe could get 16 places, with Africa earning nine.<\/p>\n

But the information remained unconfirmed and world football\u2019s governing body was not expected to immediately announce its final decision on allotments.<\/p>\n

The powerful council officially weighed five proposals during Tuesday\u2019s meeting at FIFA\u2019s snow-covered Zurich headquarters, including maintaining the status quo of 32-teams.<\/p>\n

The landmark decision to expand the tournament is the latest overhaul of the World Cup, which has seen its global popularity and financial might surge since the inaugural edition in 1930.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

That contest, won by Uruguay, had just 13 countries.<\/p>\n

The World Cup expanded to 24 teams in 1982 in Spain before moving to its current 32-team version at France 1998.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0AFP . Zurich\u00a0(Jan 10, 2017):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0FIFA\u2019s ruling council on Tuesday unanimously approved an expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026, with a format of 16 groups of three nations. \u201cThe FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team #WorldCup as of 2026: 16 groups of 3 teams,\u201d a tweet from FIFA\u2019s official account said. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\t\n