Dortmund chief slams 48-team World Cup: "Complete insanity"

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has branded FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal for an expanded World Cup as “complete insanity.”

Infantino’s plans would place more pressure on already stretched players and risk damage to the sport's showcase event, Watzke told Reuters on Thursday.

48 teams instead of 32

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Infantino proposed this month to increase the World Cup to 48 teams up from the current 32. A decision will be taken in January, but FIFA is discussing it this week.

"I am totally against it. It is complete insanity," Watzke told Reuters in an interview. "The World Cup is the biggest thing in football and should not be played around with."

He said players were already playing too many games, in several competitions simultaneously.

"Boring qualifiers"

"Players are already permanently stretched too thin. For FIFA this may not be important at all but we as a club have to go against it," Watzke said. "What will happen next? The next FIFA president proposes 84 teams? Look at the huge gaps in the qualifiers that already exist. The qualifiers are at times so boring that any thought of a bigger World Cup is crazy."

A FIFA spokesperson simply said: "The proposal for a 48-team World Cup will be discussed at the FIFA Council during the next two days."

Watzke said the many competitions could prove a challenge for Dortmund as well this season, following the departure of key players, including Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gündogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

"In the last years we had a well-tuned team but this season five players, of which three are key players, left and we brought in eight young players," he said. "We had a lot of respect for the season before the start and after the first two months in all competitions we are absolutely on target."

Dortmund are four points off leaders Bayern and top of their Champions League group, ahead of Real Madrid.