Increased World Cup slots no guarantee for Africa — Bell

Football legend Joseph-Antoine Bell says he is not convinced about FIFA’ new policy to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, which would guarantee more representation from Africa at football’s global gathering. Bell’s lack of conviction stems from the fact that, he thinks the continent still lags behind the rest of the world and more slots would not guarantee success for Africa.

The Cameroun legend has thus admonished football authorities in African to be preoccupied with how best to develop the game comprehensively with a view to bridging the gap for sustained success instead of basking in improvement by small teams which flatter only to deceive.

“People are dreaming of an African Cup winning the World Cup but we’ll never win the world Cup if the improvement comes from Guinea-Bissau and the small teams. “We need to have big teams playing better and better and better and not look at those at the back,” says Bell.

After three World Cup appearances in 1982, 1990 and 1994, and having spent his best years in France, the Cameroun ace knows the demands of the world’s biggest competition, particularly as no African side has gone beyond the mark set by the Indomitable Lions at the 1990 World Cup in Italy where they defeated the Diego Maradona-led Argentina and went all the way to the quarter-finals.

“On a whole, we cannot be very happy with what is happening in Gabon. Big teams like Nigeria and South Africa could not qualify, and we have Cameroun, Egypt and Ghana who are not playing their best football. It means there is something wrong with African football, and if the World Cup were to be held now, Africa will be down,” lamented the 62-year-old legend.

And the stand of the game today does not inspire confidence that Africa will have a pride of place at the World Cup with increased representation.

“I’ve heard people say Africa will get more slots under this new system. But you don’t increase your chances to win the World Cup with those who could not qualify with 32 teams. Of course, you will be bringing weaker teams and tourists to the World Cup who will only take pride in playing and not win the World Cup.

“It’s like our FAs don’t have on their agenda the need to close the gap between Africa and the rest of the world, particularly Europe and South America. They just care about what is happening in Africa, that is why we are looking behind aand looking at improvement by small teams like Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and teams like that and saying there is improvement in Africa because these teams are coming up,” noted the former Olympique Marseille, Toulon, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne star who described the standard of the AFCON in Gabon as an “average performance”., particularly with the continent’s giants failing to make a good impression so far, despite seven-time winners Egypt making it to the final.