GENEVA—FIFA has approved bigger 26-man squads for the World Cup in Qatar, deciding Thursday to extend soccer’s relaxation of rules that help coaches and players during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move was expected from the FIFA Bureau—comprising the presidents of FIFA and soccer’s six confederations—after 23-player rosters were expanded for recent continental championships.
Adding three players to the typical World Cup roster follows UEFA doing the same for the European Championship last year.
There were 28-player squads also approved for the Copa América tournament in South America last year and at the African Cup of Nations in January.
The extra numbers help the coaches of the 32 teams cope with possible outbreaks of virus cases. It also means additional players are already following health protocols within the camp in Qatar rather than be brought from their home country.
The squad size change will send a total of 96 extra players to the World Cup being played from November 21 to December 18. The 28-day tournament compares to 32 days four years ago in Russia.
Most of the extra players will likely come from European clubs whose domestic seasons must pause by November 13 for the first World Cup held during the northern hemisphere winter.
Squads will be together for just one week before the tournament kicks off instead of the usual preparation time of about two weeks.
FIFA has created a $209 million fund from its World Cup revenues to compensate clubs with a daily rate of about several thousand dollars for releasing players to national-team duty.
World Cup teams can also now use five substitutes in the regulation 90 minutes instead of three.
What started as an interim rule in 2020 to ease player workloads in congested game schedules during the pandemic is now codified in the laws of the game.
The FIFA Bureau also set March 16 next year for a presidential election to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, during the annual congress of 211 member federations.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is seeking a new four-year term to extend his leadership of soccer’s world body to 11 years.
No potential opponent has yet emerged and the deadline to enter the contest is four months before the election. That will fall in mid-November, days before the World Cup starts.
Russian appeals against bans from international soccer because of the country’s war in Ukraine, meanwhile, are set to be heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July.
The court on July 5 will hear the Russian soccer federation’s appeal against FIFA and UEFA’s joint decision to suspend its national and club teams days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
A second CAS hearing on July 11 will consider an appeal by four Russian clubs, including national champion Zenit St. Petersburg, against exclusion from the next UEFA club competitions.
UEFA’s executive committee made that separate ruling on May 2 among decisions affecting more than 15 European competitions.
The Russian women’s team was also removed from the European Championship that kicks off next month in England.
Lawyers and officials involved in the cases confirmed the CAS hearing dates which have yet to be listed formally by the court.
Urgent verdicts could be requested by the clubs ahead of scheduled games in qualifying rounds of the Champions League and other UEFA competitions.
The high-profile soccer cases could set the tone for similar appeal cases pending at CAS between Russia and governing bodies of Olympic sports.
The IOC has said suspending Russian athletes and teams is intended not to punish them but to protect the safety and integrity of events at a time of “deep anti-Russian” feelings.
UEFA and FIFA in imposing their bans said on February 28 that “football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine.”
Russian soccer officials tried to freeze the FIFA ban ahead of a World Cup qualifying playoff on March 24, but that was rejected by a CAS judge. Russia’s scheduled opponent Poland had refused to play the game citing the invasion of Ukraine.
FIFA lawyers supported Poland’s move and later cited the risk of “irreparable and chaotic” consequences for the World Cup in Qatar if Russia was cleared to play and then advanced to the final tournament in November.
“Having considered all these factors, FIFA must act to guarantee the efficient organization and smooth running of its competitions,” soccer’s governing body argued to the court in March.
Lawyers for the Russian soccer federation argued the ban was “a disguised disciplinary sanction” where the right to be heard at the FIFA Council was denied.
Poland did eventually qualify for the World Cup and on April 1 was drawn in a group with Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. AP