New Delhi: Usually a routine gathering, FIFA’s annual congress in Vancouver on Thursday has additional significance this time as it will held less than two months before the 2026 World Cup with several questions still hanging around the showpiece tournament’s first 48-team edition.
To be held in USA, Mexico and Canada, the expanded edition begins on June 11 and stretches till July 19, with costs being one of the primary concerns among participating nations concerned over potential losses in travel and operations.
UEFA has shared those concerns with FIFA expected to approve a bigger prize money pool for teams guaranteed to get at least $10.5 million from a projected revenue of around a record $13 billion, making it the event’s biggest ever spectacle.
The governing body believes more countries, more matches will lead to greater revenues, which will be channelled into development programmes and solidarity funding across its member associations.
Iran status
High on the agenda will also be Iran‘s participation as a concrete decision is yet to be taken since the West Asian country requested reloaction of their three group stage matches from USA to Mexico siting security concerns.
FIFA has rejected that request insisting on on the tournament to go ahead as planned with president Gianni Infantino insisting Iran will participate “for sure”, stating that “sports should be outside of politics”.
But Iran hasn’t confirmed participation yet though a government spokesperson recently said they are “fully prepared” for participation.
Ease of visa access and travel is also a top item that would be up for discussions as Palestinian Football Association officials were denied entry into Canada for a pre-congress meeting, following which its vice president Susan Shalabi and president Jibril Rajoub were granted entry, Reuters reported.
Managing logistics of 48 teams for a tournament spread across three countries and multiple time zones will not only be a test for teams but travelling fans broadcasters and organisers.
FIFA has said that to host a tournament of this enormous scale and magnitude it is necessary to have a multi-host model but it also poses as a challenge for the global governing body to keep it workable and inclusive with high ticket prices already becoming a sore point.
Delegate of FIFA’s 211 member associations attend the annual congress meeting and over 700, including representatives from all six confederations, commercial stakeholders and media are expected to be present.
Two representatives from the All India Football Federation flew in to attend though president Kalyan Chaubey wasn’t among them.