Presidential candidate suggests 40-team Cup

FIFA presidential candidate Gianni Infantino is suggesting expanding the World Cup to 40 teams and following the example of the European championship by spreading it across several countries to share the "honor and benefits" of the tournament.

The Swiss, general secretary of European soccer body UEFA, also backs proposed reforms for soccer's scandal-plagued world governing body, including term limits for the president and leading officials and public disclosure of their remuneration.

Laying out his plans for the Feb 26 election, Infantino also proposed FIFA should aim to distribute half of its revenues directly to its 209 member associations to be spent on the development of the sport.

Infantino, a 45-year-old multilingual lawyer, is one of five candidates standing for election in the midst of the worst crisis in FIFA's history.

Forty-one individuals, many of them national association presidents, and entities have been indicted in the United States and FIFA's own ethics committee has banned leading officials including president Sepp Blatter, who is suspended for eight years.

Infantino's reform proposals are broadly similar to those that will be put before the Congress on Feb 26.

Infantino, who was on the committee which helped draw up proposed reforms for FIFA last year, backed a proposal to restrict the FIFA president and executive committee members to three four-year terms each, which is considered a key element.

Blatter had been president for 17 years when he was banned in December.

"This will ensure a regular influx of new ideas into the institution and will also help to address some widely voiced public criticism of the organization," said Infantino's manifesto.

Other suggested measures included "a fully open tendering process for commercial and operational contracts" and a "proper institutional framework to ensure full transparency of money flows".