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Chinese Sponsor Says World Cup Expansion Is About Money

Chinese media mogul Wang Jianlin, the country's second-richest man, said that the decision by FIFA to expand the World Cup "shows its new leaders are more focused on money than the previous administration," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. Wang: "I can see their objective of expansion is to make money. That's one thing you can see very clearly, the new FIFA is more focused on income now." Wang's company Dalian Wanda Group in '15 became FIFA's "first top-tier Chinese sponsor amid the fallout from a corruption crisis that threatened the sporting group's existence and forced out long-term president Sepp Blatter." Replacement Gianni Infantino last week announced plans to expand the quadrennial World Cup from 32 to 48 teams from '26. The expansion has received a "mixed response," with lesser football nations "expressing hope of qualifying for sport's most-watched event," while others have said that it "diminishes the tournament's quality." A representative group for Europe's top clubs said that the move was "without sporting merit, and based on political considerations." A FIFA report said that the increase in the number of teams and matches "could boost tournament revenues" by as much as 25% to more than $6.5B. Since Infantino's election in February, FIFA has "dispensed with almost all its senior department heads," including the chief of marketing who negotiated the Wanda contract. Wanda's other football interests include a 20% stake in Atlético Madrid (BLOOMBERG, 1/18).

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