FIFA are mulling over the possibility of changing the World Club Cup into a full-scale tournament consisting of either 16 or 24 teams.
Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo report Barcelona directors suggested the idea to Gianni Infantino at a recent meeting.
And the Swiss-Italian new president of football is open to the idea.
Infantino is looking to repair the damaged done to Fifa’s image by the bribe scandal which caused several arrests and the ultimate resignation of long-time chief, Sepp Blatter.
The accolade will return to simply being known as the ‘Ballon d’Or’ and Fifa will resurrect the Fifa World Player of the Year award which ran simultaneously with the French magazine gong from 1991 to 2009.
And now Infantino wants to continue his revolution and expand the world club tournament.
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Currently, it is contested in December — usually in Japan, although it has been played in the United Arab Emirates and Morocco in recent years — between the winners of the Champions League as well as equivalents from Asia, Africa, North America, Oceania and South America and the winners of the national league from the host country.
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The Oceanian champions face the host nation’s league winners in the play-off round where the winners meet the North American champs in the quarter-finals.
The other last-eight tie is between the Asian and African champions.
While the best from Europe and South America enter at the semi-final stage.
However, Infantino wants to include more teams and host it every two years around the world in order to generate more money.
There had previously been talk of a European breakaway league for some of the continent’s biggest clubs.
And Uefa appear to have compromised by guaranteeing the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga four group stage places from 2018 — despite president, Aleksander Ceferin, criticising the decision.
Infantino’s idea may be another slight compromise with Europe’s elite clubs.
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