UEFA will ask for its teams to be given 16 places at the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup, according to the BBC. UEFA will also request that the European teams that qualify "are kept apart in the first stage." The new-look tournament will begin with an initial round of 16 three-team groups, with 32 qualifiers going through to the knockout stage. Thirteen European teams qualified for the last World Cup in Brazil in '14, which was won by Germany. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said that the requests are "realistic," and it is "his desire for every European team to qualify from the first round." FIFA is "expected to confirm the quotas for each continental governing body in May" (BBC, 2/9). The AP reported if UEFA's requests are accepted by FIFA, "it will ensure no all-European matches in the 12-day group stage" at the 2026 World Cup. UEFA also wants to "add a commitment to ethical values in its statutory rules," which can be updated at its annual congress on April 5 in Helsinki, Finland (AP, 2/9).
TERM LIMITS: REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported future UEFA presidents "will be limited to a maximum of three terms and a total of 12 years in the job," the organization said on Thursday, after its exec committee approved a set of governance reforms. Past presidents of the organization "had no such restrictions," with former President Lennart Johansson in charge for a "full 17 years." Other changes include "granting two member positions" on its exec committee to representatives of the European Club Association (REUTERS, 2/9).
BONIEK ENTERS RACE: The AP reported UEFA said that former Poland int'l Zbigniew Boniek "is among 13 candidates running for a place" on its exec committee. The former Juventus player, who has been president of the Polish FA since '12, is "chasing one of eight seats." Three men "are seeking to retain their positions:" former UEFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag (Netherlands), David Gill (England) and Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus) (AP, 2/9). In Dublin, Emmet Malone reported Irish FA (FAI) CEO John Delaney "is running for a seat" on UEFA’s Exec Committee. A "controversial figure at home," Delaney has had "many years" on various UEFA committees to make contacts and is currently a member of its National Team Competitions Committee. The other candidates for seats on the committee are Kairat Boranbayev (Kazakhstan), Armand Duka (Albania), Reinhard Grindel (Germany), Elkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan), Karl-Erik Nilsson (Sweden), Kieran O’Connor (Wales), Michele Uva (Italy) and Servet Yardimci (Turkey) (IRISH TIMES, 2/9).
