Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

DFB boss Reinhard Grindel warns over 48-team World Cup workload

German FA (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel has said he can imagine an expanded World Cup, but stressed that players should not face an increased workload.

Last week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said a proposal to expand the tournament to 48 nations, with 16 groups of three teams, had received backing at a meeting of national federations.

That model -- along with an alternative 48-team format and a 40-team event -- was one of three proposals put forward for discussion by FIFA as it considers expansion of the World Cup from 2026 onwards.

World football's governing body is set to decide on a new format at its council meeting in Zurich early next month.

Grindel, speaking after a meeting with FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura, told reporters: "I highlighted that there should be no extra workload for the player, and that the [length of the] tournament should not be stretched."

Infantino has promised that the new format would have "no downside for the players, and no downside for the clubs because the calendar isn't impacted."

But speaking in October, Germany coach Joachim Low said he did not back the idea of expanding tournaments.

"The best teams should be at the World Cup and the European Championship," he said. "If you keep on raising numbers, there is a watering-down of quality."

Germany does not currently have a representative on the FIFA council after former president Wolfgang Niersbach was banned for a year.

The ban came after the ethics committee of world football's governing body found he had "failed to report findings about possible misconduct concerning the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup," for which he was vice-president of the local organising committee.

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