The FA is considering "a radical plan" to abolish TV appearance fees for FA Cup ties and "replace them with increased prize money for all clubs in the competition," according to Matt Hughes of the LONDON TIMES. Under proposals backed by senior execs at Wembley, "all clubs would receive the same fee at each round of the FA Cup irrespective of whether their tie was broadcast on television," a change that would have the "overall effect of more money going to non-League and lower division clubs." The allocation of televised matches for the third round onward, which kicked off Sunday with an all-Premier League clash between West Ham and Man City on BBC One, "has attracted increased controversy in recent years, with smaller clubs repeatedly complaining that their potentially giant-killing ties are ignored by broadcasters," who, despite the "romantic tradition" of the Cup, tend to focus on bigger clubs that deliver higher viewing figures. The FA is "privately sympathetic to such complaints, but acknowledges that there is nothing it can do about it" because, while it is supposed to be consulted, "the choice of televised matches is solely down to the domestic rights holders," at present the BBC and BT Sport (LONDON TIMES, 1/6). The BBC reported in October, the FA signed a "six-season overseas broadcast rights deal for the FA Cup." FA CEO Martin Glenn said that the organization "could raise" the current £25M ($30.7M) fund because of the deal. He said, "The FA Cup is a great way of redistributing money to the lower leagues." U.K. Sports Minister Tracey Crouch warned last month that the government "will legislate to force through FA reforms if the governing body does not make changes itself," setting a deadline of April for the FA to "set a path to reform" (BBC, 1/8).
ENGLAND ON BOARD: In London, Martyn Ziegler reported England and the other home nations are "set to support" FIFA's move to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams -- "as long as Europe is guaranteed extra places in the tournament." FIFA’s council will make a decision on an expanded World Cup at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday "and it now looks certain that the size of the tournament will be increased" from '26. Europe’s FIFA Council members "will hold their own meeting before the decision is taken to draw up their strategy to secure extra slots." Although FIFA "is not planning to allocate the extra places on Tuesday," UEFA will want "guarantees that Europe will get its fair share." Michel D’Hooghe of Belgium, the longest standing FIFA member, said that Europe "had to stand together but pointed out it could be outvoted if it alone opposed expansion" and the rest of the world was in favor (LONDON TIMES, 1/6). The London GUARDIAN reported Glenn admitted his organization "will effectively be powerless to stop World Cup expansion." Glenn: "I can’t influence FIFA. My No. 1 focus is how do we make England equipped to qualify and ultimately win tournaments, that’s all I care about. I can’t influence FIFA; we’re one voice out of 211 [national associations]. Our preference would be to keep the tournament smaller, because there’s a quality factor here, but we’ll try to influence the shape of it" (GUARDIAN, 1/8).
