Luis Figo revealed proposals for a 48-team World Cup and a $3.5 billion (3.1 billion euros) windfall for national associations as he launched his FIFA presidential campaign on Thursday. Unveiling his manifesto at Wembley Stadium in London, the 42-year-old former Portugal winger said the expansion of the World Cup from its current 32-team format would be "weighted towards non-European teams".
"With that option, we will increase substantially the tournament's financial income, which could be invested again in grassroots football, and allow other confederations outside Europe to have more places in the World Cup," he told AFP. One of his proposals for the World Cup is to split it into two 24-team tournaments played simultaneously on two different continents, followed by a final knockout stage in one country.
He said the expanded format, which could be a 40-team or 48-team World Cup, would only add three or four days to the duration of the tournament. Another of his proposals is the distribution of half of FIFA's $2.5 billion revenues and $1 billion of FIFA's $1.5 billion cash reserves to its 209 member associations, principally for spending on grassroots football. The former Barcelona and Real Madrid superstar also called for the restoration of the 'old' interpretation of the offside rule, "where a player is judged offside whether directly involved in the play or not".