Manchester: Proposal to hold a World Cup every two years, driven by the FIFA government agency, is set to be opposed by UEFA and European main clubs, the source has told Reuters.
Arsene Wenger, Head of FIFA’s Global Football Development, has promoted ideas as part of an organizational review of the international match calendar and this week repeated its support for changes from the four-year cycle established.
But European football sources told Reuters that every FIFA effort to introduce such changes would face resistance from the UEFA European Regulatory Agency, the European club association (ECA) and could not win the support of the main domestic league.
Responding to a letter to fans of European Football Supporters Fans, UEFA President Aleksandr Ceferin said there was a “fear of worldwide football” about the plan submitted by the former Arsenal manager.
“Considering the main impact of this reform in all football organizations there is a broad amansticism that FIFA seems to be launching a PR campaign to encourage its proposal while each proposal has not been presented to the Confederation, National Club, League, Clubs, Players, Coaches, Clubs, and All Football Communities , “Ceferin wrote in the letter on Friday, a copy that Reuters has seen.
“As one of the concrete examples among so many, it is very important to highlight the worries distributed throughout the world of football regarding the impact of the Two-annual FIFA World Cup on international match calendars and, clearly in the context of women,” he said.
Wenger’s plan is for the World Cup to be followed the following year by a continental championship, such as Euro and Copa America, which means there is no clear summer for the Women’s World Cup and their continental tournament.
“UEFA and its national association …
have serious reservations and great concerns around the FIFA plan report,” Ceferin added.
FIFA said that the consultation on the proposal was ongoing and will continue for the coming months with all the main stakeholders, including the Confederation and Member Association.
“Fans around the world are consulted on an unprecedented scale and FIFA will publish results in time.
The purpose of consultation is to conduct a comprehensive analysis by considering the various views and interests of global football,” said a spokesman for FIFA.
“There are no specified purposes, and FIFA has an open mind to find a better solution for the good of the game.” The club and league in Europe will almost certainly oppose their players to spend extra time in the national team competition.
In May, the FIFA Congress chose to conduct a feasibility study to hold the World Cup and the Women’s Cup every two years.
The proposal initially came from the Saudi Arabic Football Federation but FIFA President Gianni Infantino called it a “fluent and detailed proposal” with 166 national federation voting and 22 chose.
Infantino questioned whether the current regular qualification system throughout the year ahead of the continental championship and the World Cup was the best model.
“Do we really think this is the right way for football when we hear that fans say they want a more meaningful game, a less meaningful game, all these things must be considered,” he said.
“We will discuss it, we will analyze it but we will, in all discussions, placing sports elements as a priority instead of a commercial element.” Every change in the World Cup will need a voice from the FIFA Congress consisting of all 211 national football federations.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
The next man’s World Cup will be held in November 2022 in Qatar with the following editions in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.