FIFA approved a 26-man squad for the World Cup in Qatar and decided to relax football rules that help coaches and players during the Covid-19 outbreak on Thursday.
The move was expected after the FIFA bureau recently expanded its 23-player roster for the Continental Championship – which includes FIFA’s president and six federations of football.
UEFA did the same for last year’s European Championships, adding three players to the typical World Cup roster.
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Teams of 28 players were also recognized for the Copa Am दक्षिणrica in South America last year and the African Cup of Nations in January.
The extra number helps coaches of 32 teams cope with a potential outbreak of the virus. This means additional players are already adhering to health protocols at the Qatar camp instead of being brought out of their country.
A total of 96 additional players will be sent in team sizes for the World Cup, which will be played from November 21 to December 18.
The 28-day competition was compared to 32 days in Russia four years ago.
Most of the extra players will come from European clubs, whose home season will have to wait until November 13 for the first World Cup to take place in the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Instead of the usual two weeks of preparation, the teams will be together for just one week before the start of the competition. FIFA has raised 9 209 million from its World Cup revenue, which pays the club a daily rate of around हजार 1,000 for releasing players on national-team duty.
The World Cup teams can now use five options instead of three as per the rules in 90 minutes. What began as an interim rule in 2020 has now been codified into sports laws to reduce the workload of athletes on crowded sports competitions during epidemic illnesses.
The FIFA bureau has also set March 16 next year for the presidential election to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, during the 211-member Federation’s annual congress.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is seeking a new four-year term to extend his World Cup leadership to 11 years.
No potential opponents have yet emerged and there is a four-month deadline for elections.
It will arrive in mid-November, just days before the start of the World Cup.
