FIFA took a hard look at the future, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino stating yesterday that the organization should decide in January if it will expand from its 32-team format to one that features either 40 or 48 teams for the 2026 tournament. The AP writes that Infantino expects a decision when the ruling council meets in the new year.
In addition, the organization laid out its long-term strategy “FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future,” a 70-page document outlining its key goals with points that include taking over organization of the World Cup after Qatar 2022, changes to the World Cup bidding process, boosting the percentage of the world’s population participating in the sport from 45% to 60%, doubling the number of female players and investment of $4 billion into developing soccer.
In addition, the report called for an expansion into eSports, noting that “FIFA will increase its role in the exploding eSports market, which in 2015 generated revenues of almost USD 1 billion, and work to capture a greater share of that market by better leveraging the popularity of the FIFA video game and the FIFA Interactive World Cup. The administration will establish a dedicated team to explore opportunities and develop a business strategy that ensures FIFA is responsive to current trends and able to quickly adapt to developing trends in the eSports industry.”