BELGRADE, April 3, 2025 - FIFA wants to reverse the numbers, and hence the status, of the men’s and women’s football tournament at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Gianni Infantino told the 49^th congress of European federation UEFA in Belgrade of the proposal which would raise the status of women’s football at the Games while downgrading the unpopular hybrid which is the men’s event.

If the International Olympic Committee is amendable then last year’s Paris Games would be the last to feature the established modern format with 16 men’s teams and 12 for women. A significant difference is that the men’s event is for under-23 teams, with three over-age players, while the women’s competition is unrestricted and is, in effect, a secondary world cup.

Infantino, a member of the IOC, extolled FIFA’s work on behalf of the women’s game in Belgrade. He told leaders of the 55 European FAs: “We had been asking the IOC whether we can have 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams. It seems this is not possible so our proposal would be that we should think about swapping it and having 16 women’s team and 12 men’s team to foster even more the women’s football movement.”

He added: “I think we owe that to women’s football. It would be a strong signal but we will see where that leads us.”

The next Women’s World Cup will be in Brazil in 2027 and Infantino said that bidding was already open for the finals of 2031 and 2025 in which “our idea is to increase the number of participating teams from 32 to 48 to equal it with the men’s World Cup.”

Infantino said expressions of interest had been indicated for 2031 from the United States and potentially some other CONCACAF members and from the British home nations for 2035 bid.” He added: “So the path is here for the Women’s World Cup to take place in some great nations to boost even more the women’s football movement.”

The FIFA president also used his address to promote the forthcoming Club World Cup in the United States in June and July. Making the best of the lack of interest among national broadcasters, he said that FIFA would be making live coverage available for free “for everyone in every corner of the world.”

Infantino’s enthusiasm for universality also embraced Russia whose teams have been suspended from international competition since the military invasion of Ukraine. He said: “I hope we can soon move to the next page to bring back Russia in the football landscape because this would mean that everything is solved. Football is not about dividing but uniting girls, boys, people from wherever they are.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, in his keynote address, echoed Infantino’s insistence on football’s unifying values. He spent much of his speech refuting “cynics and doubters” who claimed that football was in crisis and pointed to the popular success of the expanded the Champions League.

Ceferin added: “The Euro under-21 being hosted jointly by Albania and Serbia is a shining example to remind us there are no real borders in European football. A striking success of Euro 2024 [in Germany last year] was that it was more than just a tournament, it was a festival of unity.

“Where politics builds wars, football builds bridges. Football is the greatest social movement in Europe.”