FIFA's governing council will "hold a meeting in Miami on Friday to discuss, among other things, a significant expansion of the 2022 World Cup and a multibillion-dollar plan for a new World Cup-style competition for clubs," according to Tariq Panja of the N.Y. TIMES. The visit by the FIFA Council is the "latest sign that it has moved on from its corrupt past," as the 37-member body will meet on U.S. soil for the "first time since" the global soccer scandal broke in '15. The current leadership has "attempted to build bridges with the American authorities." FIFA Deputy Secretary General Alasdair Bell "made it a priority to visit Brooklyn and meet with prosecutors upon joining the soccer body in September." His visit came a month after FIFA President Gianni Infantino "met with President Trump at the White House." Coming to Miami also "renews focus on Concacaf," which is based in the city. Of soccer’s six regional governing bodies, Concacaf "perhaps felt the most damage from the scandal," but it is now "largely prospering after introducing governance reforms" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/12).
NEED MORE SPACE: The AP's Rob Harris notes a FIFA feasibility study concluded that the '22 World Cup can "expand to 48 teams by using at least one" of Qatar's neighbors as an additional host, and that there is a "low legal risk to changing the format." FIFA also found that an additional $400M in revenue "could be generated." It was reported last week that FIFA was "looking at Kuwait and Oman as options for games" in '22. With logistics already challenged by the existing plan to play 64 games in eight stadiums spread over a 30-mile radius in Qatar, FIFA said that two to four "additional venues are required in the region 'with one or more' nation." FIFA stipulates that any "additional hosts would have to supply government assurances, including on its human rights requirements" (AP, 3/12). In N.Y., Sarah Valenzuela writes aside from "getting assistance from its neighbors, Qatar would simply need more stadiums." The nation has already "begun building eight new stadiums, but the number simply isn’t enough" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/12).
