Decision on 48-team World Cup for Qatar next year

Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) secretary-general Hassan al-Thawadi has said that a decision on expanding the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams will most likely be taken next year, even as FIFA president Gianni Infantino yesterday said the idea was “feasible”.Al-Thawadi told AFP that Qatar was studying the 48 teams proposal and would make a decision before qualifying gets under way.“We are still looking at the feasibility studies and we will be in a better position to provide a feedback in the future,” he said. “But it will be decided before the qualifications... sometime in the first quarter of next year.”He added that preparations remained on track. “We are very happy and excited with the progress. It is on track. By 2020-2021 all our (eight) stadiums will be ready,” al-Thawadi said. “This is the first World Cup in the Middle East and is a perfect opportunity to bring people together and contribute to the process of healing,” he added.Meanwhile, talking at the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) annual congress in Kuala Lumpur, Infantino said, “We have decided... to increase the number of teams participating in the World Cup final tournaments from 32 to 48. “It will happen in 2026. Will it happen in 2022? You know me. It is possible. It is possible. Why not?” he added.Infantino said an expanded tournament would see Asia’s allocation rise from 4.5 places to 8.5, raising cheers from the delegates assembled at a luxury hotel in the Malaysian capital.“You will have (a bigger) chance. It is possible. It is feasible. We are discussing with our Qatari friends. We are discussing with many other friends in the region. We hope we have it happen. We always have to try,” he said. Ahead of FIFA’s presidential election next year, Infantino said 180 out of the 211 federations had given him their support.“You know there is an election coming. I have announced I will be a (presidential) candidate. I have received over 180 letters of support,” he said. “And when it comes to Asia, only a couple are missing.”