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See the full story · 5 sourcesFifa appears to have accelerated plans to expand the World Cup to 64 teams amid Gianni Infantino ’s controversial proposal to sell off stakes in the tournament to private investors.
The world football governing body has faced staunch opposition to the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) - the name for the commercial entity - with Uefa confirming they will boycott Fifa competitions , including the next World Cup, if plans go ahead.
Concacaf, the confederation of North America and the Caribbean, as well as the Asian Football Confederation have joined Uefa in officially rejecting the proposal , but even as pressure piles on Fifa president Infantino, he is not slowing up his plans for radical change.
A private document, first revealed by Martin Ziegler of The Times , shows that Fifa issued a brief for further World Cup expansion on Thursday 30 July.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino is accelerating plans to expand the World Cup to 64 teams (PA Wire)
Fifa wants to “appoint an independent agency” to explore expanding the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams, with an intention to implement the format from the 2030 edition. This summer’s World Cup was the first to have 48 teams compete after the increase from 32.
The brief reads: “The request is both focused on a tournament revenue assessment and on a full assessment of the change through the eyes of the football-ecosystem (brands, broadcasters, audiences, media companies, federations, confederations, leagues, clubs and other sports-industry stakeholders).
“The analysis should test market appetite and system-wide consequences of this movement, including commercial spaces and risk of saturation. Consumer or fan evidence may be used where it helps but it should not become the centre of the study that remains a B2B focused study.”
The timeline on the documents said Fifa would receive agency proposals by 7 August, with a Fifa decision on 14 August. Delivery of analysis by the agency is then scheduled for 11 September.
It comes after Fifa hit back at opposition to its sell-off plan, insisting that “nobody is selling football” and confirming that it will continue its consultation period after disruption from “erroneous reporting in the media” ahead of a vote on 19 September.
Infantino has an investor group led by Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner – the brother of United States president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – lined up to take a minority stake in the new venture.
Infantino has written to Fifa members explaining that they will receive $40m (£30m) if they back his proposal before the deadline with the MAs that do gaining access an initial $20m (£15m).
Uefa perceived this ultimatum as “governance by intimidation” and confirmed the intention to boycott, barring a Fifa climb down.
Uefa has confirmed its intention to boycott Fifa competitions if Infantino (right) goes ahead with his World Cup plans (Reuters)
If both the privatisation proposal and 64-team World Cup expansion are passed, two thirds of the primary host nations - Spain and Portugal - would not be competing at the 2030 edition.
Fellow co-host Morocco’s stance towards FFE is not yet know, with African confederation Caf yet to back or reject the plan after initially displaying openness to the consultation.
There will also be one match held apiece in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina at the 2030 World Cup in honour of the tournament’s centenary.
No statement has yet been made by South America’s confederation Connebol on FFE, though president Alejandro Dominguez has already said he is in favour of an expansion to 64 teams.
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