FIFA Committees Oppose Proposal to Increase Number of Teams to 36 for 2006 World Cup

Zurich, Switzerland – In a meeting on Friday, the majority of members from FIFA's technical and football committees expressed their opposition to the proposal to increase the number of participating teams in the 2006 World Cup. For the first time in FIFA's history, the two committees convened in a joint session at the headquarters of world football in Zurich. During the discussions, chaired by the heads of the two committees, Angel Maria Villar Lona (Football Committee from Spain) and Michel Platini (Technical Committee from France), an overwhelming majority agreed that the number of teams participating in the final stage of the 2006 World Cup should remain at 32. Important points discussed in this meeting include: * Having 36 teams in 9 groups of 4 teams each is not feasible. The most suitable number in the future would be 40 teams, organized into 8 groups with 5 teams each, which would add 32 matches to the total number of games. * It is not possible to simultaneously determine 7 second-placed teams, which would lead to long stagnation for some teams and could potentially allow for match-fixing. * With the current format of 32 teams, the first and second teams from each group advance to the knockout stage; this method is not only mathematically simple but also fair in terms of sports. * Increasing the number of teams would require additional financial and logistical resources, and it is unlikely that this would generate more revenue, with the possibility that the competitions could become excessively prolonged. The FIFA Executive Committee will make a decision on Saturday regarding the South American Confederation's proposal to increase the number of teams from 32 to 36 for the 2006 World Cup finals.