Soccer’s governing body will look into another expansion of its marquee event, the most lucrative in sports, after a request by one of its 2030 co-hosts.
FIFA, the governing body for global soccer, is considering a plan that would increase the number of teams in the 2030 World Cup to 64 for a one-off expansion to mark the centenary of the event, the organization said on Thursday.
The proposal, which was made toward the end of a FIFA board meeting on Wednesday, would upend a tournament that already figures to be unwieldy and complicated because it will be played across three continents for the first time in its history.
The World Cup is the most lucrative and most watched event in sports, bringing in billions for FIFA, but the coveted nature of the competition has led to battles among nations to host it, as well as widespread allegations in the past of corruption.
The decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia was criticized by good governance organizations, after FIFA changed its own rules to allow the country to effectively secure rights without facing any competition.
The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has already overseen the expansion of the World Cup once during his nine-year tenure, bringing the number of teams up to 48 from 32 at the next edition in 2026, which will be mostly played in the United States but also include matches in Mexico and Canada.
According to four people with direct knowledge of the discussions, the proposal for a 64-team tournament came as the meeting that was drawing to a close and had reached the section of the agenda earmarked for “miscellaneous” issues.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
