Skip to main content

Fifa increases squads to 26 players for World Cup


 Fifa  has announced that it will allow countries to select up to 26 players for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, increasing the maximum squad size by three for the 21 November - 18 December upcoming tournament.


"The number of players to be included on the final list has been increased to at least 23 and a maximum of 26," Fifa said in a statement.


World football's governing body said the decision to expand squads was made "given the need to retain additional flexibility due to the unique timing" of this year's competition, which will interrupt the European club season.


Fifa also took into account the "broader context of the disruptive effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on squads before and during tournaments".


Uefa adopted similar changes for Euro 2020 last year, meeting a demand from coaches who feared they could lose players due to coronavirus.


National teams had named squads of 23 players at the World Cup and European Championship ever since the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.


Prior to that only 22 players were allowed in each squad at international tournaments.


Last week football's rules body IFAB approved the permanent use of five substitutes for all top-level matches and said teams can now name 15 substitutes on a team sheet instead of 12.


"No more than 26 people (up to 15 substitutes and 11 team officials – one of these officials must be the team doctor) will be allowed to sit on the team bench" during World Cup games, Fifa said on Thursday.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kenyan Law Court dismisses case of man seeking compensation after his wife eloped with another man from hospital

  A lawsuit filed by a man seeking to be compensated by St Mary's Mission Hospital in Kenya for allowing his wife to leave the hospital with another man after giving birth, has been struck out by a law court.    The appellant had sued the St. Mary's Mission hospital at Kakamega law courts in 2020 seeking general damages from the facility on grounds that the hospital had discharged his wife and allowed her to leave with another man. After delivering and at the time of discharge, the wife of the appellant claimed he was the baby's father.   The court of appeal judges Patrick Kiage, Mumbi Ngugi and Francis Tuiyott sitting at the Kisumu Court of Appeal, empathized with the man, but disagreed that he (the appellant) be compensated by the hospital for not detaining his wife.  They upheld the lower court's judgement which added that there's no remedy that lies in the law for such grievances.   Kiage said;   "I agree that if a man takes the woman he loves to t...

CJN Tanko unveils panel to hear Atiku’s appeal against Buhari

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed is presiding over the 7-man panel that will hear the appeals filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at the February 23 poll. Other members of the panel are Bode Rhodes-Vivour, Amiru Sanusi, Uwani Abaji, Ejembi Eko, John Inyang Okoro and Olukayode Ariwoola. Atiku and his party are challenging the September 11 judgment of the Justice Mohammed Garba-led Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which affirmed President Buhari’s victory at the polls. The appeals hearing has generated some controversies especially due to the silence of the Supreme Court on the justices that would constitute the panel, with the Coalition of United Progressives Party (CUPP) demanding the use of seniority in selecting them. A senior member of Atiku’s legal team, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), told reporters that they considered it strange that as at ...

FRSC reinforces directive on use of google maps while driving

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has clarified its position on the use of Google Maps, The FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ayuba Gora was quoted saying that driving with the aid of Google map using mobile phones is a serious traffic offence. Gora said this at the inauguration of the 2019 Ember Months Campaign by Lugbe Unit Command of the FRSC in Abuja yesterday. But, FRSC Spokesman Bisi Kazeem making reference to Gora’s comments said the Sector Commander was quoted out of context and his statement outrightly misrepresented. Kazeem said the FRSC as a technology-driven organisation is not and has never stood against the use of Google Maps by Motorists. The statement read: “To state the obvious, we have always enlightened the public on the position of the law on the use of phone while driving. “The statement he made during the flag off buttresses the position of the Corps, which is that any driver who intends to deploy the use of Google Map...