FIFA shelved a proposed expansion of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the world football body’s president Gianni Infantino.
The 2022 tournament in the Gulf state will now be playedwith 32 nations taking part.
FIFA said it had abandoned the expansion plans “following athorough and comprehensive consultation process” which led to the conclusionthat “under the current circumstances such a proposal could not be made now”.
“(The tournament) will therefore remain as originallyplanned with 32 teams and no proposal will be submitted at the next FIFACongress on 5 June,” FIFA said in a statement.
The expansion was a pet project of Infantino, who pushed theidea despite the likely need for Qatar’s neighbours to put aside a two-yearblockade and help to host an expanded tournament.
“The involvement of these countries in the organisation ofthe tournament jointly with Qatar implies the lifting of this blockade, inparticular the lifting of restrictions on the movement of people and goods,”said a feasibility study submitted to March’s FIFA Congress in Miami.
The study, seen by AFP, also claimed that a Qatar World Cupwith 48 teams would generate “between $300-$400 million (265-354 million euros)of additional income”.
Specifically FIFA was counting on an additional $120 millionin TV rights, $150 million in marketing rights and $90 million from ticketsales.The news comes after Europe’s top football clubssaid in March they would boycott an expanded 24-team Club World Cup — alsobacked by Infantino — which is planned to take place in June and July 2021,replacing the Confederations Cup tournament.