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FIFA appear to have landed themselves in further trouble after an apparent leaked memo revealed plans to examine expanding the next World Cup to 64 teams.

The governing body’s image has been badly hit in recent months after a run of damaging public relations episodes.

Alongside the controversial reversal of Folarin Balogun’s red card for the United States after Donald Trump personally called FIFA, and the hydration breaks that proved highly lucrative for advertisers, the prospect of a World Cup boycott is now being seriously discussed.

After it emerged that president Gianni Infantino had put forward a proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, there was a major backlash.

Within 24 hours, UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC had all opposed Infantino’s plan and could boycott future FIFA tournaments.

FIFA maintained its position on the proposal, which would need 106 of FIFA’s 211 members to approve it in a vote. However, the European governing body UEFA, the North, Central America and Caribbean body CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation together control 136 votes.

If they vote against it, which now looks a real possibility, Infantino’s plans would be effectively finished.

Now, The Times journalist Martyn Ziegler, who first reported FIFA’s controversial scheme, has published an extract from a FIFA research brief on the possible expansion of the 48-team World Cup to 64 teams.

The memo, dated Thursday, says: “FIFA is considering the strategic implications of a possible expansion of the FIFA World Cup beyond the current format.

“Therefore, FIFA wishes to appoint an independent agency to determine whether and how expanding the FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 participating national teams, starting with the 2030 edition, would impact on the tournament proposition and on football ecosystem.”

Ziegler added that the decision on appointing the agency would be taken by 14 August, 2026, after which it would have four weeks to complete its analysis in time for the scheduled 19 September deadline for associations to vote on selling off World Cup stakes.

Meanwhile, BBC Sport reported that a senior adviser to Infantino has resigned just hours after the AFC opposed the FIFA president’s money-making proposal, which could reportedly earn him millions.

Carlos Cordeiro said Infantino’s proposal was a “bad deal for football” and would “mortgage football’s future”.

Part of his statement said: “The proposal has become a defining question for FIFA’s future. FIFA’s responsibility is not to maximise commercial returns at any cost. It is to protect and strengthen football for future generations. When those principles come into conflict, football must come first.

“Most troubling of all is the absence of answers to fundamental questions. Why this deal? Why now? What oversight exists? Who benefits?

“These questions remain largely unanswered, and yet member associations are being asked to make a decision of enormous consequence in barely 50 days or risk being left behind. That is not a responsible way to determine the future of the world’s game.”

Matters appear to be worsening for FIFA, which increased the number of participating nations at the World Cup from 32 to 48 for the 2026 edition.