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Increasing the number of World Cup places from 32 to 36 would risk ruining the jewel in football's crown, FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb has warned. The issue of World Cup expansion has taken centre stage ahead of Friday's FIFA presidential election, with Sepp Blatter's challenger Prince Ali Bin al Hussein of Jordan promising four more spaces -- starting at the 2018 World Cup in Russia -- if he wins the vote. Blatter has come out against increasing the size of the tournament and Webb, president of the CONCACAF confederation of countries from the Caribbean, Central and North America, claimed it was wrong to do so purely to gain political support. Webb said: "The World Cup is a jewel of football and, for me, you shouldn't increase the spaces in a World Cup for political reasons. You should increase the spaces in the World Cup because of the development of the game. Are we going to dilute the World Cup to appease various associations? "No, we must have real leadership and courage to stand up and address it. "I think 32 is great. If you look at the standard, you look at the television ratings, it's tremendous. Every single game. Do you want to go to a World Cup where you know what the score is going to be every single game?" FIFA has announced an extraordinary executive committee meeting for Saturday morning, the day after the election, where the allocation of World Cup places per continent for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, the latter which is being played in Qatar, will be confirmed. UEFA's allocation seems most vulnerable to be cut -- it has 13 spots and with hosts Russia would have 14 in 2018. One scenario would be to say the 13 spots must include Russia's place, with the extra place shared out between CONCACAF and Asia meaning they no longer have to play off. Webb said he would welcome an extra half place for CONCACAF, adding: "I'd love it!", but admitted that UEFA's block vote of eight members on the 25-strong FIFA executive committee posed a problem. He said: "This is where the imbalance is. It's not based on sport, it's not based on merit, it's based on representation. That has created a lot of the problems we have in football today." Meanwhile, Blatter hit back at claims from Luis Figo that he is a dictator and expressed confidence that he will be re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on Friday. Blatter, 79, is facing Prince Ali alone after former Portugal international Figo and Dutch FA president Michael van Praag pulled out of the race last week. Figo said he was not prepared to stand until "it is proven to me that we are not living under a dictatorship," and that the election was about the "delivery of absolute power to one man". Blatter, speaking in Zurich after arriving to address a CONCACAF meeting, said: "Luis Figo is free to say what he wants to say because he's a free man, you can ask him why he called me a dictator. I have received so many titles, but I am still the president until Friday." Asked if he was confident of winning the election, Blatter added: "You know me, I'm an optimist so of course I'm confident." A survey carried out on behalf of Transparency International, an organisation that monitors corruption and governance, and Football Addicts has said of 35,000 votes from 30 different countries, 83 percent of fans think Blatter should not stand again for president and only two percent believe Qatar should host the 2022 World Cup.
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