LONDON, Jan 10 — Former France and Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly says potential hosts of future World Cups will not be put off by the increased costs associated with an expanded tournament.

Desailly was speaking in Zurich yesterday the day before Fifa are expected to announce an expansion to their figurehead tournament.

The 37-member Fifa Council, which makes strategic decisions for soccer’s governing body, will today decide whether to increase the tournament from the current 32 teams to either 40 or 48, starting in 2026.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino, elected last February to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter, pledged during his campaign to enlarge the tournament — a promise designed especially to appeal to the bulk of Fifa’s 211 member associations that rarely or never qualify for World Cups.

One of the concerns raised by critics has been the possible increased costs of hosting the tournament, with many more games to host and more teams to provide facilities for.

However, Desailly said these fears were unfounded and declared that soccer was so loved by people across the world, there will always be the desire to host tournaments.

"You find the money for the World Cup — the nation, continent, country that loves to have the World Cup in their country, that creates infrastructure, to make it happen,” he told Reuters Television.

"Never talk about money. Money is never a problem in football. Football is growing, football entertains everyone, the broadcasters want to buy the TV rights, the stadiums are full, people go crazy,” he added.

Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, who was also in Zurich to promote Fifa’s event, was more sceptical.

Although Yorke, who hails from the tiny soccer nation of Trinidad and Tobago, admitted the expanded tournament would benefit smaller nations, he stressed concerns that the quality of games could decrease with more nations competing.

"Everyone wants a piece of the pie and it is great to see but at the same time we need to make sure and safeguard that the football is the same quality that is aspired (to) and people expect to see when the world cup comes around,” said Yorke.

The association representing Europe’s most powerful clubs, already struggling to nurse players through long domestic seasons, last month wrote to Infantino to say that that "politics and commerce should not be the exclusive priority in football”.

But even if the Europeans oppose the expansion, Infantino believes they will be in a minority. — Reuters