2026 World Cup: FIFA resumes selection process

Congress, not council, to choose host in May 2020

MEXICO CITY: FIFA has revived the process to choose the 2026 World Cup host, frozen since last year amid corruption allegations hanging over the upcoming tournaments in Russia and Qatar.

The FIFA Council’s resumption of the process is one of the biggest decisions by football’s governing body since it elected a new president, Gianni Infantino, in February to clean up its tarnished reputation.

The newly created council, which replaced the scandal-plagued executive committee, made the announcement after a two-day meeting in Mexico City ahead of a congress today and tomorrow that will discuss FIFA reforms.



FIFA said in a statement that the bidding process was resuming and that the host of the 2026 World Cup will be chosen in May 2020 — with the congress, not the council, electing the winner.

“Things are getting calmer at FIFA,” said Fernando Sarney, Brazilian member of the council. “Gianni is talking about football, traveling around, trying to bring football back in our conservations, because football was really out of everything.”

Human rights are among the areas that FIFA will examine before awarding the 2026 tournament, while sustainable event management and environmental protection will be among the other areas examined during a consultation period between now and May 2017.



Candidates will then have to present their bids by December 2018.

Well before a host is chosen, the FIFA Council will decide at its October 13-14 meeting whether to expand the number of teams from 32 to 40 for the 2026 finals — one of Infantino’s election promises.

FIFA could also lift its ban, imposed in 2011, on joint bids, which happened only once in the 2002 World Cup hosted by Japan and South Korea.

In other decisions, the FIFA Council gave its backing to admitting Gibraltar and Kosovo, both already recognised by European football body UEFA. If the congress agrees during its meeting, Gibraltar and Kosovo could participate in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.