The FIFA Council meet in Zürich next week for the first time this year. Potential alterations to the World Cup are likely to be on the agenda. DFB President Reinhard Grindel spoke to DFB.de ahead of the meeting and highlighted the dangers of rushing through proposals.
DFB.de: Mr. Grindel, do you think that a decision will be made next week regarding changes to the World Cup?
Reinhard Grindel: I hope not. The member associations received the proposals just before Christmas. I think we need a prolonged period of time to discuss them, as individual associations, confederations and then as a whole. A decision shouldn’t be rushed through.
DFB.de: What do you mean?
Grindel: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has always said that transparency is key. To ensure this happens in this instance, I feel we need time to examine the proposals internally before discussing them in the future, potentially at the FIFA Congress in May. It’s important to gauge opinions in the upcoming summits too. The DFB will send representatives to February’s one in Addis Ababa and ensure that it features on the agenda.
DFB.de: What do the formats look like?
Grindel: FIFA have offered two 40-team and two 48-team options. The 40-team variations feature eight groups of five sides, or 10 of four. One of the 48-side varieties features a pre-tournament featuring 36 teams, with 12 seeded sides automatically reaching the knock-out stage. The other option simply features 16 groups of three.
DFB.de: What are your thoughts on them?
The FIFA Council meet in Zürich next week for the first time this year. Potential alterations to the World Cup are likely to be on the agenda. DFB President Reinhard Grindel spoke to DFB.de ahead of the meeting and highlighted the dangers of rushing through proposals.
DFB.de: Mr. Grindel, do you think that a decision will be made next week regarding changes to the World Cup?
Reinhard Grindel: I hope not. The member associations received the proposals just before Christmas. I think we need a prolonged period of time to discuss them, as individual associations, confederations and then as a whole. A decision shouldn’t be rushed through.
DFB.de: What do you mean?
Grindel: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has always said that transparency is key. To ensure this happens in this instance, I feel we need time to examine the proposals internally before discussing them in the future, potentially at the FIFA Congress in May. It’s important to gauge opinions in the upcoming summits too. The DFB will send representatives to February’s one in Addis Ababa and ensure that it features on the agenda.
DFB.de: What do the formats look like?
Grindel: FIFA have offered two 40-team and two 48-team options. The 40-team variations feature eight groups of five sides, or 10 of four. One of the 48-side varieties features a pre-tournament featuring 36 teams, with 12 seeded sides automatically reaching the knock-out stage. The other option simply features 16 groups of three.
DFB.de: What are your thoughts on them?
Grindel: They all have their limitations, which FIFA themselves acknowledged in the document they sent out. The 40-team option with eight groups would see only the winners progress, which means that there is the potential for a lot of dead rubbers. The 10-group alternative would see the winners and six best runners-up go through, which could leave teams waiting up to four days to establish whether they will progress or not, which isn’t ideal for players or supporters. If we have a play-off round in a 48-team version, the tournament will be a week longer than it presently is, which creates problems regarding burden etc. The final option is problematic as it could create a situation where draws aren’t likely as that could damage the integrity of the final matchday. In this way we’d need to introduce extra-time and/or penalties early on, which could also be an issue.
DFB.de: How would the additional places be distributed?
Grindel: A number of different options were discussed in the proposals. I’m not convinced that the Europa and South America were properly considered though. 35 of the 48 sides to reach the last 16 in the three most recent World Cups came from those two regions. A couple of spots would go their way under the 40-team concept, which in my opinion would only strengthen the imbalance sometimes felt in these tournaments.
bDFB.de: Which format do you think will protect the interests of German football the best?
Grindel: The DFB fundamentally believe that the current 32-team format is the best option. In recent years the World Cup has shown itself to be extremely popular with supporters, players and sponsors, so why should we change it?
DFB.de: FIFA believe that expanding the competition will help develop football globally and increase the commercial success of the tournament. Do you agree with that?
Grindel: First and foremost it is important that the European associations work together to help develop football in Africa and Asia, however, I’m not sure that expanding the World Cup is the best way to go about this. I think it could lead to an increased conflict between club and country due to the fact that the burden on players would increase. I also feel that such a change could have an impact on how attractive the tournament is.
DFB.de: Germany hasn’t had a represented on the FIFA Council since Wolfgang Niersbach’s resignation. Has this been problematic in regards to recent discussions regarding the future of the World Cup?
Grindel: We’re the world’s biggest football association, so obviously it would be better if we had a seat on the Council and UEFA’s Executive Committee, however, that should all change after the UEFA Congress in April. Until then I’ll make sure that our opinions are heard whilst attending the World Footballer of the Year awards in Zürich on Monday and at the summit in February.
