- Title: Football stars show support for expanded World Cup
- Date: 9th January 2017
- Summary: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 9, 2017) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** PLAYERS INCLUDING GERMAN STRIKER CELIA SASIC, FRENCH DEFENDER ERIC ABIDAL, BRAZILIAN DEFENDER CAFU, FRENCH DEFENDER MARCEL DESAILLY, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO STRIKER DWIGHT YORKE, SPANISH DEFENDER MICHEL SALGADO AND BRAZILIAN DEFENDER ROBERTO CARLOS ARRIVING FOR PHOTOSHOOT PLAYERS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF ROBERTO CARLOS TALKING TO JOURNALISTS ABIDAL TALKING TO JOURNALISTS VARIOUS OF DESAILLY TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER FRANCE DEFENDER, MARCEL DESAILLY, WHEN ASKED WHETHER FUTURE, EXPANDED WORLD CUPS WOULD BE EXPENSIVE, SAYING: "I don't know what you are talking about. You find the money for the world cup - the nation, continent, country that loves to have the World Cup in their country that creates infrastructure, to make it happen. I believe that Russia, which is going to be good I hope, the Qatar World Cup 2022, which will be an amazing World Cup, especially when you have all the tournament in one city, with all the stadiums and transport and everything, logistics will be perfect I am sure. This is not a problem. Never talk about money. Money is never a problem in football. Football is growing, football entertains everyone, the broadcasters want to buy the TV rights, the stadiums are full, people go crazy. The Chinese are coming, the Indians are inside the system soon. We are not scared about that. What is important is that FIFA puts in place a good system to really create a huge entertainment interest and at the same time to bring the business higher." VARIOUS OF YORKE TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO STRIKER, DWIGHT YORKE, SAYING: "But still, nevertheless, we still want that edge that you are looking for in the competition. I am all for the 48 (teams) because football is becoming such a global sport, everything. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and it is great to see but at the same time we need to make sure and safeguard that the football is the same quality that is aspired (to) and people expect to see when the World Cup comes around." ROBERTO CARLOS TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER BRAZIL AND REAL MADRID DEFENDER, ROBERTO CARLOS, SAYING: "It is fantastic, fantastic…This is going to open many, many doors for players from other countries, other national teams which are not really considered as favourites and which could participate in or learn from a World Cup. A lot of people are saying that the level is going to decline, and this is normal, this is what happened in the Champions League, or in the "Copa del Rey", in Spain. We need to be patient, we are going to experiment, to make a test and then see what happens…I do believe the (FIFA) President's idea is excellent." ABIDAL TALKING TO MEDIA
- Embargoed: 24th January 2017 16:14
- Keywords: football World Cup soccer Marcel Desailly Dwight Yorke Roberto Carlos
- Location: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
- City: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0015YCZIGV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former France and Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly says potential hosts of future World Cups will not be put off by the increased costs associated with an expanded tournament.
Desailly was speaking in Zurich on Monday (January 9) the day before FIFA are expected to announce an expansion to their figurehead tournament.
The 37-member FIFA Council, which makes strategic decisions for soccer's governing body, will on Tuesday (January 10) decide whether to increase the tournament from the current 32 teams to either 40 or 48, starting in 2026.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, elected last February to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter, pledged during his campaign to enlarge the tournament - a promise designed especially to appeal to the bulk of FIFA's 211 member associations that rarely or never qualify for World Cups.
One of the concerns raised by critics has been the possible increased costs of hosting the tournament, with many more games to host and more teams to provide facilities for.
However, Desailly said these fears were unfounded and declared that soccer was so loved by people across the world, there will always be the desire to host tournaments.
"You find the money for the World Cup - the nation, continent, country that loves to have the World Cup in their country, that creates infrastructure, to make it happen," he told Reuters Television.
"Never talk about money. Money is never a problem in football. Football is growing, football entertains everyone, the broadcasters want to buy the TV rights, the stadiums are full, people go crazy," he added.
Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, who was also in Zurich to promote FIFA's event, was more sceptical.
Although Yorke, who hails from the tiny soccer nation of Trinidad and Tobago, admitted the expanded tournament would benefit smaller nations, he stressed concerns that the quality of games could decrease with more nations competing.
"Everyone wants a piece of the pie and it is great to see but at the same time we need to make sure and safeguard that the football is the same quality that is aspired (to) and people expect to see when the world cup comes around," said Yorke.
The association representing Europe's most powerful clubs, already struggling to nurse players through long domestic seasons, last month wrote to Infantino to say that that "politics and commerce should not be the exclusive priority in football".
But even if the Europeans oppose the expansion, Infantino believes they will be in a minority. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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