Final decision on 48-team 2022 World Cup set for June – FIFA

FIFA chiefs will decide on Friday whether to back an expansion of the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams but a final decision will only be taken at a meeting in Paris in June, sources said Thursday.

The FIFA Council meeting in Miami on Friday will give its verdict on an internal feasibility study which supported increasing the number of teams at the 2022 tournament in Qatar from 32 to 48,

However a final vote on increasing the number of teams at the football showpiece would only be taken at a full Congress meeting of football's global governing body in June.

And any declaration of support by FIFA's Council on Friday would acknowledge that expansion in 2022 can only take place if one or more countries on Qatar's borders are able to host games, according to a document seen by AFP.

FIFA's feasibility study into an expanded World Cup in 2022 said Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and United Arab Emirates were potential options to host games in three years time.

But Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would only be candidates if their governments ended a diplomatic blockade of Qatar launched in 2017, the study said.

A final decision on whether to expand the 2022 World Cup would be taken in...