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No time for growth Now more than ever FIFA must cut back on expansionPosted: Friday June 27, 2003 11:36 AMLONDON (Reuters) -- The official report into the death of Marc-Vivien Foe in Thursday's Confederations Cup semifinal must wait until the medical men have completed their work. But it is unlikely he died because of "too much soccer." The Confederations Cup has been derided as an unnecessary tournament coming at the end of an already over-long season. Yet more than 100 players took part with no apparent ill-effects before Foe's sudden death on Thursday. FIFA are contractually committed to organizing at least two more Confederations Cup tournaments, so any thoughts of reducing the number of matches elite players contest are largely irrelevant for the foreseeable future. But there is one key decision FIFA can take this weekend, that will ensure that there will be no further expansion of football at the very highest level. FIFA's 24-man executive committee meets in Paris on Saturday and must decide whether to increase the World Cup finals from 32 to 36 teams. On the surface it sounds a simple decision. An extra four teams sounds manageable, but the idea is fraught with problems. The immediate one is that reducing 36 teams to 16 teams for a knockout phase creates logistical and organizational problems for the competition as a whole. Whatever plan is devised for housing 36 teams, whether nine groups of four teams are created or even 12 groups of three -- an idea studied by the German organizers of the 2006 finals -- nothing works as well as a 32-team competition with eight first round groups of four teams. So, if the system seems to work, as it has done for both the 1998 and 2002 finals, why change it? Politics again The reason is politics. The South American Confederation CONMEBOL wanted an expansion of the finals after they lost a playoff place and Brazil were deprived of their automatic right to a place as defending champions. Oceania will gain an automatic qualifying berth for the first time for the 2006 finals regardless of whether 32 or 36 teams are in the tournament. The South Americans, loyal supporters of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, were hoping that he would back their claims for the extra places, but Blatter is against the idea. The German organizers are also against it and it is hard to see how FIFA can endorse an expansion. UEFA have already taken a lead in reducing the number of matches the elite clubs play by removing the second stage in the Champions League from next season. Instead of playing 17 matches to reach the Champions League final, next season's finalists will play 13 games. Foe played in the 1994 and 2002 World Cup finals and would almost certainly have played in 2006, because Cameroon are among the favorites to qualify from Africa again. His death in France on Thursday has shocked the world of soccer. It would be even sadder if, in time, his death came to be seen as a symbol of the days when the sport embraced one tournament too many. Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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