Day -533.
WorldCup2018
Everybody wants change, except for the Europeans. Everybody sees the
necessity for change for their own gain, except for the Europeans who
don't want change unless they can gain something from it.
The
talk of expanding the World Cup to 48 teams was in the news again today
as Fifa president Gianni Infantino reiterated his belief that this is
the way forward for the World Cup. And again he said that his idea has
the backing of most of the national feder
ations.
The main opponents are the Europeans where most of the players who
would participate in a World Cup play. The club owners, the big ones who
belong to the European Clubs Association, are worried about their
players having to play more.
In the end UEFA will probably go
ahead and reluctantly accept the change. All the other continental
confederations see it as a good move, ensuring more countries will
qualify from their region. UEFA will most likely vote for the new format
and then immediately demand they get more spots. Most of the World Cup
finalists come from Europe already and, rather than see this as an
opportunity for the World Cup to become truly a tournament for the whole
world, the Europeans will selfishly look to make this a bigger showcase
for their countries.
It would be naive to not recognise that
the main driving force behind this change is money, and specifically
more revenue for Fifa. With more matches on TV and more sponsorship
money, research conducted by Fifa itself suggests that a 48 team
tournament would result in an increase of $640million in profits. But,
predictably, at the same time Fifa insists that a decision on the new
format should have purposes beyond money.
"It should not be a
financial decision," the Fifa report said. "Instead, the goal of
expanding the FIFA World Cup is to further advance the vision to promote
the game of football, protect its integrity and bring the game to all."
As typically cynical of a response a quote like that would normally
generate from football fans, mostly European ones, there is a sound
argument for an expansion. Football is stronger all over the world now,
the gaps in quality are not so big anymore and there are a lot of
talented teams that get excluded every four years, primarily because the
Europeans get the highest percentage of spots.
The biggest
issue may be the financial difficulties of a host nation to run a 48
team tournament. Brazil had many documented issues with construction
costs for the last World Cup. Unless Fifa offer more assistance it will
be very hard for one country to support so many matches, in more
stadiums, with more public transport and hotels in places where they
don't exist. The first expanded tournament would be in 2026. The
favourites to host are a joint bid between Mexico, Canada and the US.
That would make it easier, but how will 48 teams in one country work?
If Fifa can justifiably reason out the added expenses then I say bring it on.
