Fifa President Gianni Infantino wants 32 teams in Club World Cup, Details.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino wants 32 teams in Club World Cup, Details.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino thinks the mostly unloved Club World Cup could expand from seven teams to a 32-team tournament played in June.

 

Source: www.newstalk.com

Giovanni Vincenzo "Gianni" Infantino (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒovanni vintʃentso iɱfanˈtiːno]; born 23 March 1970) is a football administrator and current FIFA president. He holds dual nationality, Swiss and Italian.

Infantino said in interviews published yesterday in Italian and Spanish newspapers that a revamped club competition could start in 2019.

The existing format brings together champions from each of the continental federations and is held in December with Japan the 2016 hosts.

If Infantino's idea gains traction the annual competition would undergo a massive upgrade and be staged instead in June.

The Fifa president told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday that as it stands the event "has a complicated formula held at a difficult time, attracting little enthusiasm."

A 32-team event played in the last three weeks of June would be more balanced and more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors, Infantino said in comments reported by the Gazzetta dello Sport and El Mundo Deportivo dailies.

Infantino’s suggestion also follows speculation that China wants to host more international football.

Last year, Chinese retailer Alibaba E-Auto signed as the CWC title sponsor through 2022.

"But in summer, from 10 to 30 June, with 32 of the world's best clubs!" he suggested.

"Is it worth the tiring trips involving lots of air travel and time zones, or a tournament?

"But it all depends on the health of the players who must be able to rest afterwards."

Infantino also discussed the notion with Spain's Mundo Deportivo telling the Catalan daily "that football nowadays isn't just Europe and South America".

“That’s what we’re trying to do, by creating a tournament that is much more attractive, with more quality among participants and more clubs. That will attract more sponsors and television companies from around the world.”

Infantino told Gazzetta dello Sport that the current version "has a complicated formula held at a difficult time, attracting little enthusiasm."

However the FIFA chief believes that it would be better, "in the summer, from June 10-30, with 32 of the world's best clubs.

"The world has changed, so we have to find a Club World Cup which will be more interesting for the teams, as well as the fans around the world."