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FIFA’s controversial biennial World Cup project is back on the table on Monday, as the governing body of world football holds a virtual world summit with its 211 member federations.
There will be no vote, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said that the idea is to find a consensus: do the national federations really want a more regular World Cup, or is the Arsene Wenger-sponsored plan doomed?
Former Arsenal coach Wenger, now head of FIFA’s global development team, has defended the idea of holding a major international tournament every year, alternating between the World Cup and various continental tournaments.
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“There will be no more matches than before. The idea is to improve the quality of football and competitions. It’s not a matter of money,” Wenger told the French newspaper. The group in September.
It would be a radical change, as the Men’s World Cup has always been held every four years since its founding in 1930, and the Women’s World Cup since 1991.
It’s also a change that not everyone is enthusiastic about.
UEFA, the European governing body, and CONMEBOL, its South American counterpart, have led the opposition.
“I don’t see the point,” said Real Madrid and Croatia star Luka Modric, as English Premier League clubs join forces in opposition and the head of the FIFPro World Players’ Union recently suggested that the project had little chance of success.
“He is probably dead,” said Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, whose organization is made up of national associations that are members of 64 countries. AFP.
Meanwhile, the African Football Confederation, along with its 54 member associations, has spoken out in support of its “decision to conduct a feasibility study for the FIFA Congress” last month.
Tensions
There is a lot of tension in renewing the current international men’s calendar in 2024 and trying to figure out how the future of the sport will affect various parties.
Conducting the World Cup every two years would have consequences for the health of the players, FIFPro already regularly mentions concerns about their workload in a crowded calendar.
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There would also be economic consequences, and potential problems could arise if the clubs were not ready to release players to an international tournament every year.
Winger’s idea is to organize all the playoffs in two windows a year, in October and March.
That way, clubs could really benefit from losing players due to international calls four or five times each season.
“Too many players don’t have enough opportunities to develop,” he said in November.
The Frenchman said the tournament was a “unique window” for players to register, but stressed that “133 countries have never taken part” in a World Cup.
Critics may point out that there will be more opportunities in the future, however, as the 2026 World Cup will be extended to 48 teams and not the current 32.
Europe, South America united
FIFA also says it is what fans want, and published the results of a survey of more than 30,000 people on Friday “saying that football was their favorite sport”.
A majority said they wanted to watch the World Cup more often, with 63.7 percent saying they were in favor of the biennial men’s championship, and 52.4% were in favor of the two-year-old women’s version.
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He works with UEFA CONMEBOL in the United Nations League
Given that each of the 211 member federations has the same vote, it is likely that there will be enough support for the project to be put to a vote at the FIFA Congress in Dohan on 31 March.
Returning to Europe, however, UEFA recently commissioned a report estimating that a more regular World Cup would lead to a gap of between 2.5 billion and 3,000 billion euros ($ 2.8 billion and 3.4 billion) in four years.
Instead, it is developing closer relations with CONMEBOL.
It has been announced this week that Italy, which has won the 2020 European Championship, will play in the Copa del Rey against Argentina next year to secure a new intercontinental crown.
He also confirmed it on Friday AFP While working on a unified League of Nations, the 10 South American teams would enter the existing European competition from 2024 onwards.
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