32 or 36? FIFA executive faced with crucial decision

Zurich/Paris, 20 June 2003 -The FIFA Executive Committee will complete another round of FIFA committee meetings when it convenes in Paris on 28 June 2003 (cf. programme attached). The focus of attention will no doubt fall on the committee’s decision regarding the number of teams taking part in the final competition of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.

At its last meeting in Zurich on 3 May, the executive of world football’s governing body showed itself not to be entirely averse to increasing the field for the FIFA World Cup™ finals from 32 to 36 teams, but underlined that the move would only be approved if CONMEBOL, the South American confederation proposing the change, could draw up a match schedule that safeguarded the sporting integrity of FIFA’s flagship event. Since then, CONMEBOL has put together a number of concrete proposals and, accompanied by analytical reports from the FIFA administration, these proposals will be presented at the meeting for the 24 members to discuss before reaching a decision.

Looking ahead to the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, the Executive Committee will rule on the allocation of the rights to take care of the hospitality programme for the competition, which were offered for public tender in early May. Furthermore, the General Secretary will give a status report on the ticketing and accommodation arrangements for the event.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ also figures high on the agenda. At the end of May, six national associations – Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia – formally confirmed their official candidatures to host the competition. In his report, the General Secretary will update the executive on the bidding process. The Executive Committee will also cast their eyes ahead to the FIFA competitions scheduled for later in 2003 – the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the USA (20 September - 12 October), the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland (13 - 30 August) and the FIFA World Youth Championship, which following its postponement in March, is now due to be played in the United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December.

In addition, the Executive Committee will also consider whether to appoint a group of experts to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to specialise in judging violations of the applicable doping guidelines. When approving the World Anti-Doping Code, FIFA did so on the condition that it would consider and sanction positive doping cases using individual case management, thus taking into account the specific circumstances surrounding each offence.

With regard to the men’s and women’s Olympic Football Tournaments 2004, which will be played in Athens, Heraklion, Patras, Thessaloniki and Volos, the Executive Committee will make a decision on the respective match schedules.

As for legal and sports politics matters, the executive will have the opportunity to ratify the suspension of the Antigua/Barbuda Football Association, which was imposed by the Emergency Committee on 20 May.

Source: FIFA.com

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