FIFA abandon World Cup 2022 team expansion
The excitement of big football tournaments and cup finals have overshadowed a big new story surrounding FIFA that has gone almost unnoticed.
For once it is an announcement from FIFA that should bring a smile to most football fans faces. Football fans love to wager on matches but when the action stops, they can try free slot machines to keep the excitement going before the next big game.
FIFA has officially abandoned plans to expand the 2022 World Cup from 32 nations to 48. In 2018, it was announced that FIFA planned to initiate its plans for expansion four years earlier than originally proposed. In the end, the idea has been cancelled due to logistical problems.
Why did FIFA cancel plans to expand the World Cup 2022?
The World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been under scrutiny since the day it was announced. The event has taken on even more heat from fans and football leagues when it was announced the tournament would be played in the winter due to the Qatari summer being too hot.
According to the BBC, FIFA has dropped its World Cup expansion plans due to Qatar being unable to accommodate the additional teams. Qatar would need to share World Cup hosting duties with another Middle Eastern nation to allow 48 teams to compete in the event. The combination of a lack of stadiums, training facilities, hotels, and security for players and fans made the expansion impossible.
Qatar’s relief
No one will be more relieved that the World Cup will remain as a 32-team tournament than Qatar. The small Arab nation has had the World Cup outlined as its coming out party. Any notion of the tournament being shared would have frightened the tournament’s organisers.
Qatar is currently experiencing a blockade from its neighbouring countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. If the World Cup 2022 would have been expanded it is doubtful any of the three nations would have stepped forward to co-host. In addition, Qatar would not have wanted to share with any of the three neighbours as political tensions between them are high.
Expanding the World Cup
FIFA has been hellbent on expanding the World Cup in recent years. The tournament is set to go from 32 to 48 teams in 2026. But why does FIFA want the tournament to be expanded?
In the simplest terms, the World Cup finals tournament will become watered down with teams that do not deserve to qualify. The quality of the tournament doesn’t seem to worry FIFA, however.
The international football calendar is competing with a packed and exciting club schedule. Due to the desire to compete with club football and tournaments like the Champions League, FIFA has taken measures to grow the World Cup.
FIFA has stated the tournament must grow to include more nations outside of Europe and South America. However, instead of simply revising the number of berths given to certain federations, they decided to simply add 16 new places.
There is a strong argument that the current 32-team structure doesn’t even produce the 32 best nations in the world. The idea of 16 additional fringe teams is frightening when considering the lack of quality they will possess.