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World Cup extension

Blatter not in favour

AFP, Berlin
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has revealed he opposes a pending decision by the organisation's executive committee to boost from 32 to 36 the number of countries participating at the 2006 World Cup finals.
World football's governing body said last Saturday in Geneva it would delay ratifying a decision on a potential increase for the tournament in Germany until next month - but has agreed to the expansion in principle.
Blatter, however, made his opposition plain in an interview with Thursday's Kicker magazine.
"I am against 36 teams. The technical commission and the football commission (of FIFA) are opting for 32 teams - but the decision will fall to the executive committee," Blatter said.
"Up to now people have been talking about more places, but not about the consequences for television, marketing, the length of the tournament and the transparence of the calendar. All the contracts have been drawn up for a 32-team World Cup.
"With this initiative, the executive committee has therefore clearly made a mistake," said Blatter, who is fully aware that Franz Beckenbauer, the president of the German World Cup organising committee, is fiercely against a bigger tournament.
Blatter conceded the point.
"On this point I can understand the annoyance of Beckenbauer", he admitted.
"Thirty six teams cannot be the
model for the future - the current format of 32 is the best."
The executive committee, meeting last Saturday at Geneva, put off ratifying their decision until a further meeting on June 28 and 29 in Paris and warned they would only ratify the move "on condition that a match schedule be drawn up that ensured the sporting credibility of the event."
Beckenbauer last weekend blasted the idea.
"They want an increase only if it's feasible in relation to the calendar, but there's no such possibility. This is a weak compromise, said Beckenbauer.
"To go from 36 teams to 16 for the quarter-finals is impossible, it won't work," added the dual World Cup
winner.
The South American confederation Conmebol's idea is to split 36 teams into nine groups of four, with the leaders in each group winning through to the quarter-finals joined by the seven best runners-up and thus avoid losing at least half a South American place compared with 2002.
The four extra places would be filled by two teams from Europe and one from South America.
For the fourth slot the existing play-off between Asia and the North American football confederation Concacaf will be scrapped with both federations gaining an extra place.
Blatter stressed he had not fallen out with Beckenbauer.
"There is no conflict with Mr Beckenbauer. I just countered his allegation that our finances are not in order and his criticism that we are money-grabbing," said the Swiss.
Regarding Beckenbauer's threats that he might resign from the organising committee if there are 36 teams or further disagreements Blatter said he believed the pair could iron out their differences.
"He won't step down. It would be a great shame if he did."
But Blatter did criticise the German organisers for having set up two organisational centres - at Munich and Frankfurt - instead of one.
"We would like one interlocuter alone," said Blatter in allusion to the logistical difficulty of having had two at last year's finals which were spread between Japan and South Korea.