By RYAN TOLMICH
With the success of CONCACAF nations at last summer’s World Cup, Sepp Blatter is looking to further their inclusion in the game’s biggest tournament.
Speaking at the CONCACAF Congress in the Bahamas, the FIFA president stated that he is pushing for the confederation to earn four berths, up from the current format that sees three automatic berths and one spot in an intercontinental playoff.
The U.S. Men’s National Team, Honduras, Costa Rica and Mexico all qualified for last summer’s World Cup, with the latter earning their spot in a playoff against New Zealand. Honduras was the only nation not to emerge from the group stage, as the U.S. and Mexico advanced to the Round of 16 while Costa Rica reached the quarterfinals.
Here are some more news and notes to kick off your Friday morning:
WEBB REELECTED CONCACAF PRESIDENT
After running unopposed, Jeffery Webb is set to maintain his status in charge of CONCACAF.
Webb is set for his second term in charge of the confederation after being confirmed as president at the CONCACAF Congress.
“CONCACAF is—more than ever—united by one vision,” Webb said in a statement. “We represent our region on the global stage with one strong and cohesive voice. The invisible barriers that have hampered the region’s progress for decades are diminishing, and we are seeing unprecedented levels of success both on and off the pitch.
“Three years ago, I ran on a platform of unity, development and enhancement, with a promise to advance our sport and unite the region around it,” Webb added. “These were lofty goals — and I fully acknowledge, possibly unattainable ones — without you.”
COSTA, HAZARD AMONG PLAYER OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST
Chelsea have proven dominant in the Premier League this season, and that dominance has seen two of the club’s players earn a spot on the shortlist for theProfessional Footballer’s Association (PFA) Player of the Year.
Diego Costa and Eden Hazard are joined by Manchester United’s David de Gea, Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Tottenham’s Harry Kane on the award’s shortlist.
In addition, Hazard, De Gea, Coutinho and Kane have received nominations for Young Player of the Year, joined by Chelsea goalkeeper Thibault Courtois and Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling.
The winners are set to be announced on April 26.
QUICK KICKS
Manchester United’s Michael Carrick, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Daley Blind will all miss Saturday’s matchup against league leaders Chelsea. (REPORT)
Daniel Sturridge is a doubt for Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal that pits Liverpool against Aston Villa. (REPORT)
France’s Olympic Committee has recommended that Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s ban be reduced from four games to three. (REPORT)
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany could miss the rest of the season due to a muscle injury. (REPORT)
What do you think of Blatter’s statement? What do you expect from Webb and CONCACAF going forward? Who do you see as favorites in the Player of the Year votes?
Share your thoughts below.
If Blatter REALLY wants to affect something positive for Concacaf, he might look into eliminating the refereeing bias against Canada and the US, in all qualifier matches.
Or maybe ensuring that the US doesn’t have to play other CONCACAF teams on ridiculously poor surfaces.
Wait — what?
Give CONMEBOL and CONCACAF another half spot. Merge Asia and Oceania, because who cares…and take away a spot from that merged group.
Somehow I think Sepp is going to every confederation meeting and saying the same thing.
“I know Asia struggled in Brazil, but based on your rich history you deserve more teams.”
“An increase in qualifiers for the World Cup would lower political interference and lack of payment of players in Africa”
“Let’s face it all other parts of the world are the minor leagues lets just call the Euro tournament the World Cup and the world cup will become a series of friendlies in which stars from European club powers can sit out to rest for the champions league.”
“Fiji showed at the last confederations cup that Oceania deserves, well ok no, but vote for me and I’ll give Samoa the 2062 World Cup.”
Sepp is going to yank a spot from the traitorous Europeans and reward the loyal support in the colonies.
Considering there’s been a push to expand the field (which I don’t like in any sport), I could justify a 4th considering we’re talking about: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the US.
All four can hold their own on the big stage.
Not said – Blatter wants 4th CONCACAF spot when field expands to 40.
Or, this could be a “hey US, please bid for 2026.”
If there are 8 extra spots (which would be a terrible idea in my opinion) then concacaf should get at least one more or even one and a half more. Europe should have 4 more in that case too. Europe is the only continent where teams that actually would be competitive in the world cup don’t make it.
south america would probably want 1.5, so EUFA 4 and concacaf 1.5 gives 7 spots… FIFAs idea for the addtional 8 spots are mostly for Asia and Africa…. FIFA wants china and india, you know the “emerging markets” where the new money is at.
Honestly, 3.5 is fine. Team #4/6 should have to playoff vs South America #6/10
This sounds like a fake promiss too, which continent is loosing a spot? And NA is a higher priority than adding a spot in Africa or Asia?
Asia certainly doesn’t deserve any more spots. I know they have by far the most people but their teams perform poorly in the world cup and that should be the criteria. No Asian teams in the last 16 in 2006 (Australia was still in OFC), 2 in 2010 and none last year. Concacaf had 1 in 2006, 2 in 2010 and 3 last year.
Africa could arguably get another spot and concacaf could get another half spot but I actually think it’s fine the way it is. It would also make more sense for OFC to merge with AFC. Then a combined federation could have 5 spots rather than NZ basically getting an automatic playoff spot every time.
if it was about awarding the best performers/teams then there should be 18 or so European spots, 8 South American, and the final 6 spots could go to anyone from African, North America, Asia, etc..
growing the game in the most populated and most under performing side of the world is probably a bit more of a priority than central america.
my point is this is pandering and political lies from Sepp
8 South American sides? Are Peru and Bolivia really better than Ivory Coast, Mexico and the US? I would think growing the game in the US is more important to FIFA than growing it in Asia because there’s a bit more money here than there.
mexico wouldnt qualify in Conmebol…. peru and bolivia would 95% probably qualify in concacaf…
Because 1/2 of the nations that qualify advance to the second round a good rule of thumb is to multiply the amount of qualifiers form a confederation by 2 to see how many *should* have come. Obviously this would have to be viewed over several world cups and probably adjusted downward to allow a mercy opportunity for Oceania. So a case could be made for CONCACAF getting 4 spots but 3.5 isn’t outrageous.
Has anyone ever seen the Key and Peele skit with Barack Obama and the Republicans? In the skit the Republicans are inclined to disagree with the President even if it’s exactly what they were wanting. Same here with Blatter. I can’t help but to disagree with him even though it benefits CONCACAF because there’s probably some angle he’s playing here.