Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter criticized his successor Gianni Infantino's plans to change the format of the next World Cup and Club World Cup.
Blatter, in an interview published today with the weekly Cajt, said that "what is happening at the moment is the excessive commercialization of football".
"There are attempts to squeeze more and more out of the lemon, for example the World Cup with 48 national teams or now the Club World Cup, which must be seen as a direct competition to the Champions League. Here FIFA is encroaching on something that does not really concern it - club football." , Blatter stated.
The World Cup will be held in 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada and will be the first with 48 participants. This will fulfill Infantino's pre-election promise of a bigger and more inclusive World Cup in which other teams that are not from Europe and South America will participate.
32 teams participated in the recently concluded World Cup in Qatar.
Infantino said last Sunday that there are plans to change the format of the Club World Cup, to 32 teams from 2025.
Blatter stepped down in June 2015 due to the FIFA corruption scandal. He denied the irregularities, and in today's interview he repeated it.
"I never took money that I didn't earn, that's why they couldn't prove anything in all the proceedings against me. And it will stay that way," said Blatter.
He added that he "doesn't have any relationship with Infantina" and that the FIFA president behaved disrespectfully by refusing any contact since the election.
"He only communicates with me through a lawyer," Blatter said.
Blatter also said that on several occasions he "tried to control the business", for example in an attempt to limit the transfer of talented South American or African footballers to Europe. An attempt to introduce a salary cap for players also failed.
He said that "we failed to protect football from economic and political influence".
"I really always tried to serve football. If I damaged it, then I'm sorry," said Blatter.
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