FIFA advisors propose that the World Cup be held every two years

Mith green houseplants in the background, Arsène Wenger spoke of nothing less than the “football of tomorrow”. However, the joint proposal of the former top coach and former German national players divides the world of football to an alarming extent: the technical advisory group of the world association FIFA officially proposes that the World Cup should be held every two years. The idea met with massive criticism in the Bundesliga.

“What I think about that? Nothing, ”said Freiburg coach Christian Streich on Thursday afternoon before Wenger held an online press conference an hour later. “If you now hold a World Cup every two years, then I don’t know how it should work.” Bayern Munich’s sports director Hasan Salihamidzic called the explosive plan “nonsense. I actually thought that it would come every six years. “

Wenger, however, spoke with conviction about the far-reaching reform of the international game calendar. According to the proposal, the changes should finally take effect after the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico with 48 nations for the first time. The tournaments of the confederations would then be held in 2027, including the European Championship. In the EM year 2028, which has been planned so far, a World Cup will then be played again. The decision to abandon the four-year cycle is still far from being resolved – further heated discussions are expected in the FIFA Council before the FIFA Congress can also be included.

“In tennis, the main tournaments are also played every year”

“What we are proposing is a reorganization of the confederations’ tournaments,” said Wenger. “You give more teams the chance to qualify, but also more countries the opportunity to host a World Cup.” The proposal would “be able to make football better”. There are a number of former professionals in the technical advisory group, including the former German world champions Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann and Sami Khedira, from whom no reaction of their own was initially heard.

In May, the FIFA Congress initiated a feasibility study for the men’s and women’s tournaments, which was suggested by Saudi Arabia. In addition to Wenger, the Brazilian Ronaldo and the Australian Tim Cahill also referred to this on Thursday. 166 of the 209 associations entitled to vote were in favor of the study in May – FIFA sees this as a mandate. “In tennis, the main tournaments are played every year – and the quality does not suffer,” said Ronaldo.