PARIS — UEFA chief Michel Platini wants the World Cup Finals expanded to 40 teams from 2018 to allow more African and Asian countries into the tournament without reducing the number of European nations represented. Europe currently provides 13 of the 32 teams at the Finals, compared with five from Africa and four or five, depending on the winners of a playoff against a South American team, for the most populous continent Asia. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter wrote last week that Africa and Asia deserved more representation at soccer's showpiece event because they had more member associations than Europe and South America. Former France international Platini, widely regarded as the most likely successor to Swiss Blatter in the FIFA job, said by his own calculations that adding eight more teams would require extending the tournament by only three days. “It's good for everybody,” Platini told Britain's Times newspaper in an interview. “I totally agree with Mr. Blatter that we need more African and Asian (teams). But instead of taking away some European, we have to go to 40 teams. “We can add two African, two Asiatic, two American, one Oceania and one from Europe.” Platini said the Finals would grow to eight groups of five. “Football is changing … we have 209 associations, so why reduce? Make more people happy.” Jordaan backs calls New South African football president Danny Jordaan backs calls for a rethink over the number of places given to African and Asian teams at the World Cup, saying they should be increased at the expense of Europe and South America. It's “an important matter for debate,” Jordaan has said. “Developing economies should have a lot of say, which is why I am saying this matter must be fully researched and a proposal must be formulated,” Jordaan said. Blatter said African teams will struggle to win the World Cup because they are given so few places. There are five places at the World Cup for Africa compared to 13 for Europe. Repeating comments made by Blatter, Jordaan noted that traditional powers Europe and South America together will have up to 19 teams at next year's World Cup in Brazil compared to a maximum of 10 from Africa and Asia, yet Europe and South America have far less FIFA member countries combined than the other two confederations. Blatter's comments may be interpreted as an effort to widen his support base in Africa and Asia ahead of a possible plan to run again for the FIFA presidency despite saying that this would be his last term in charge of world football. African and Asian teams also have struggled to break through at the World Cup and a European or South American team has won every title in the 80-year history of the showpiece. Cameroon was the first African team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals in 1990 but since then only two others — Senegal in 2002 and Ghana three years ago — have got that far. South Korea is the only Asian team to reach the semifinals, making history at the tournament it co-hosted in 2002. In the last two World Cups, no Asian team and just one African team made the quarters. — Agencies
