On May 29, FIFA will elect a new President and one of the candidates, Luis Figo, represents a rather intriguing proposition. For starters, he is an ex-footballer who played the game at the highest of levels with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Post-retirement, he served in an administrative capacity with Inter Milan and has matured into a potential candidate for football’s top job. Figo’s candidacy grabbed the headlines last week when he launched his manifesto at England’s Wembley stadium and two of his major strategic bid proposals should stimulate conversations in Africa.
First, Figo proposed an expansion of the World Cup as he stated plans to establish a 40 or 48 team World Cup to replace the current 32 team format.
“My starting point in this debate is that by increasing the number of teams participating in the World Cup, we not only make sure that we include more countries from across the world in the greatest football competition in the world, but also enable FIFA to raise significant increased revenues that can be used to invest in the growth of the game globally,” he said.
“I believe we should consider proposals to expand the World Cup from its current 32-team structure to a 40 or even 48-team competition. Both these options are feasible with an extra three to four days of tournament play. If this expansion were to take place, I believe that additional teams should come from non-European nations,” he added.
His reason lies in the belief that the tournament should be more inclusive of other countries. Crucially though, Figo clearly stated that this expansion, should it happen, will be driven towards being inclusive of countries outside of Europe. This possibility should excite Africa as all previous expansions of the World Cup have resulted in an increase of slots allocated to the Confederation of African Football. In 1982, when the World Cup was expanded to 24 teams, Africa’s representation doubled from one to two teams. In 1994, African representation grew to three teams and in 1998, when the tournament was, again, expanded from 24 to 32 teams, Africa’s representation grew to five teams and has remained at five ever since. However, with the possibility of another expansion, Africa alongside Asia, Oceania and North, Central American and Caribbean Associations (CONCACAF) will all be in line for increased representation at football’s biggest party. At the last World Cup, Asia and CONCACAF both had four teams present while Oceania had none as they do not have automatic World Cup slots while Africa had five teams present. With Figo’s insistence that the expansion will not see an increase in Europe’s representation at the World Cup (currently 13 slots), a 40 or 48 team tourney will most likely result in more slots for CAF.
Secondly, Figo also stated plans to ‘re-distribute’ FIFA financial reserves to national associations with the aim to fund grass-roots development across the world.
“FIFA belongs to its member associations and it is only natural that FIFA’s revenues and reserves are distributed back to them directly. The impact of my proposals would mean between $8-10m being distributed to each member association across a four-year period,” he said.
This redistribution, if optimally utilized by African football associations, could radically improve the levels of capacity on the continent as many of these FAs are perpetually cash-strapped. Potential incoming revenues of $2 to $2.5 million yearly will have an incredible impact on the continent which could see it finally become able to bring its facilities and administration capacity to a level commensurate with the passion fans on the continent have for the game.
As it stands however, Figo is unlikely to win much support in Africa as current President Sepp Blatter enjoys immense goodwill on the continent, which has played a huge role in his tenures, since 1994. In increasing Africa’s representation at the World Cup, setting up financial assistance programmes/ but perhaps most crucially, Blatter will forever be remembered on the continent as the man who delivered the World Cup to Africa for the first time in its history. President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi’s quotes in January best encapsulate the kind of support that Blatter continues to enjoy in Africa.
“He has done a lot for the continent. It is he who has set up the financial assistance programmes and who through the Goal project has built infrastructure in all of the countries. The Europeans don’t understand that. They say it is not his own money but FIFA’s but that’s not the point. He is the one who set up all the assistance programmes that have helped boost African football,” Nyantakyi said.
Figo faces a tough unseating Sepp Blatter at the May 29 polls as he also contends with Netherlands’ Michael van Praag and Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein but surely, his plans show that should he win, it appears the former Portuguese international and 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year will be a President with the continent’s interests at heart.
