The FIFA Under-17 World Cup will henceforth be staged annually rather than every two years, and Qatar will host the first five editions of the competition starting in 2025, the world soccer governing body announced on Thursday.
FIFA announced that the Under-17 competition will be extended to 48 teams, just like the senior men’s World Cup.
The women’s Under-17 World Cup will also be played annually from 2025, with Morocco hosting an expanded 24-team event until 2029. The 2022 edition had 16 teams.
The Under-17 World Cups have been biennial and FIFA wants annual tournaments to both ensure no age group of players misses out and accelerate development of national teams worldwide.
The last men’s Under-17 World Cup was held in 2023 with Germany winning their first title. Spain won the women’s edition in 2022.
The decisions of FIFA’s ruling council on Thursday reflect the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s growing influence in soccer.
Qatar hosted the men’s 2022 World Cup and Morocco will be one of six co-hosts of the 2030 edition. Both countries have elected delegates on the 37-member FIFA Council that also includes an official from Saudi Arabia, which is expected to host the men’s World Cup in 2034.
They are meant to use existing facilities “in the interest of tournament efficiencies and sustainability.” FIFA did not name competing bidders for the hosting decisions, which it said followed “a global call for expressions of interest in hosting both competitions.”
FIFA also announced that a record $2.25 billion had been set aside for investments in football development for the 2023–2026 cycle.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated during the FIFA Council meeting that the organization is “well on track to exceed its budgetary target of $11 billion for the 2023–2026 cycle” because of its sound financial administration.
The 211 member federations of FIFA will meet in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 17 to discuss how to “tackle this unacceptable scourge” of racism in soccer, according to a statement released by FIFA on Thursday.
Infantino demanded last month that clubs would automatically lose if their supporters behaved in a discriminatory manner.
With new and harsher measures to be deployed worldwide in partnership with all our member associations and the confederations, that congress gathering “will mark a milestone in FIFA’s ongoing efforts to fight racism,” Infantino said in a statement.
Also in Bangkok, FIFA members will pick a host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in a contest between Brazil, a co-host bid by the United States and Mexico and a European bid by neighbors Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
On Thursday, the FIFA council declared that it “expects that the outcome of every vote and the associated votes will be made public.”
Read more on sportchannel.co.uk
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