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FIFA president nominee Luis Figo planning 48 team World Cup

ByAbhinav Kini|

FIFA presidential candidate Luis Figo wants to change FIFA and has proposed many changes, including a 48 team World Cup.

Former Portugal captain Luis Figo has revealed some of the changes he would make if he were to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.

The 42-year-old announced last month that he would be running for the presidency because he wanted to change the image of the controversial organization.

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“In the recent months and even years, I have seen the image of FIFA deteriorate,” Figo said. “I speak to many people in football – players, managers and association presidents – and they have told me something has to be changed.”

“I agree with them and this is why I want to become FIFA president. I’m not the kind of man who sits aside and refuses to act.”

And during his manifesto in Wembley, here are the changes Figo presented if he were to be elected:

The most controversial was to change the existing format of the World Cup to a 48 team competition.

“I believe we should consider proposals to expand the World Cup from its current 32-team structure to a 40 or even 48-team competition,” Figo said, via Eurosport.

With 40 teams, the World Cup would be played in one place with eight groups of five teams. The idea for 48 teams however, is to split the World Cup into two 24 team competitions in different continents with the extra teams being non-European nations.

“Both these options are feasible with an extra three to four days of tournament play. If this expansion were to take place, I believe that additional teams should come from non-European nations,” Figo said.

“My starting point in this debate is that by increasing the number of teams participating in the World Cup, we not only make sure that we include more countries from across the world in the greatest football competition in the world, but also enable FIFA to raise significant increased revenues that can be used to invest in the growth of the game globally.”

It would certainly be interesting to see what Figo would bring if he was elected. He certainly makes a convincing argument about his intentions:

The other presidential candidates are David Ginola, Jerome Champagne, Prince Ali and Michael van Praag.

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