The FIFA council, chaired by president Gianni Infantino, met in Kolkata to discuss several changes to its competitions and to clarify its stand on issues like the administration of football in the West Bank territories.
The meeting was held on the eve of the final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. AIFF president Praful Patel was also in attendance to seek FIFA’s support in the continued development of football in India.
The FIFA council is a non-executive, supervisory and strategic body that consists of 37 members and sets the vision for FIFA and global football. It was formed in 2016, replacing the FIFA Executive Committee as the main decision-making body, after the corruption scandal that rocked the organisation.
Among the changes proposed at the council was the formation of a single youth event to replace the U-17 and U-20 World Cups after the 2019 editions of both tournaments. The football calendar, according to Infantino, has too many events and the organisation is considering on sizing down on the number of tournaments.
“When it comes to the youth competition, the idea would be to have an increased number of participants—for boys upto 48 and girls up to 24 teams,” Infantino said at the press conference after the meeting. “These tournaments would be played on an annual basis rather once in two years… and it will be only one category, either under-18 or under-19. These are just suggestions.”
The Confederations Cup and the Club World Cup are tournaments that will either be restructured or done away with altogether. Infatino said that the Confed Cup could be replaced by a club championship competition. “We are looking into the future of the Club World Cup,” he said. “Though it is a good competition, it has not had the desired impact on club football.”
The prize money for next year’s senior World Cup in Russia has been hiked from $358 million to $400 million, while the council has decided that regulations for bidding for the 2026 World Cup will be much stricter and better structured to avoid controversies.
On the Israel-Palestine issue, FIFA has decided to remain neutral and not interfere with the football associations of both sides. “Any interference by FIFA in the status quo in these territories will or could have an aggravating effect on these areas,” Infantino said. “Some progress has been made in these areas, with regard to FIFA’s development activities, and these will continue.”
“These issues have been there for years, and football cannot solve it. It is a situation of exceptional complexity and cannot be ignored, but it cannot be changed by a non-governmental body.”
The FIFA Council has decided to refrain from imposing any sanctions or other measures on either the Israel FA or the Palestinian FA. Despite this, the FIFA administration will continue to facilitate the movement of players, officials and football equipment in, out of, and within Palestine.
The council also recognised the need to develop women’s football further and new and improved tournaments will be devised and implemented for women.
Praful Patel, who attended the meeting as the host nation representative, appealed to the FIFA council and its president to seriously consider India’s bid to host the U-20 World Cup in 2019, as he felt it would be required to continue the youth development process that was boosted by the U-17 World Cup.
He also sought FIFA’s guidance and support in the setting up of a national centre of excellence for football in the country.
Infantino replied to India’s U-20 bid saying that there were several countries that had submitted hosting bids and that the requests had to be analysed and presented to the Council.
The U-20 World Cup was held in South Korea this year and it is remains unlikely that FIFA would allow countries from the same federation to host consecutive World Cups. The decision, however, will be announced in January.
Infantino and other dignitaries will attend the U-17 final in the city on Saturday. The FIFA chief watched India’s games and said that despite the three defeats, the state of Indian football has vastly improved ever since the country was given the hosting rights.
