Football
ESPN staff 7y

Plan for 48-team World Cup 'complete insanity' - BVB's Hans-Joachim Watzke

FIFA's council met on Thursday to discuss plans for an expanded World Cup, an initiative Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has told Reuters is "complete insanity."

Earlier this month, FIFA President Gianni Infantino proposed a 48-team tournament that would see 16 teams eliminated after one knockout match.

The plan -- on which a final decision will be made in January -- would essentially add a play-in round three days before the current 32-team group stage.

From that point, the tournament would progress as it currently does.

But Watzke said Infantino's plan would pile pressure on overstretched players and added: "I am totally against it. It is complete insanity.

"The World Cup is the biggest thing in football, and it should not be played around with.

"Players are already permanently stretched too thin. For FIFA this may not be important at all, but we as a club have to go against it.

"What will happen next? The next FIFA President proposes 84 clubs? Look at the huge gaps in the qualifiers that already exist.

"The qualifiers are at times so boring that any thought of a bigger World Cup is crazy."

Infantino's plans were also criticised by Germany coach Joachim Low, who said on Sunday that increasing the number of teams would "dilute" the World Cup's value.

On Thursday, FIFA said only that the idea of a 48-team tournament "will be discussed at the FIFA Council during the next two days."

However, Watzke added that he was happier with proposed changes to the Champions League from 2018, which will give countries including Germany four guaranteed automatic group places.

"I think all in all it is a good compromise," he said. "Bayern Munich but also Borussia Dortmund will participate in sharing more revenues from 2018 onwards, and rightly so."

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