Arsene Wenger, former coach of London’s Arsenal, now FIFA’s global development director, presented the International Football Federation’s vision a few days ago to hold the world championship not every 4 years, as before, but in faster succession.
“After the 2026 World Cup, another championship could come in 2028,” says Wenger. He claims that in his vision of the future of football, the ratio of club and interstate football would remain at the level of 80:20. And that players should be guaranteed 25 days off each year during the summer months.
The main problem with a possible change in the World Cup cycle would, of course, be registered by the continental championships, especially the European one. Apart from this year’s Euro, which has shifted in time due to a pandemic, European footballers have so far alternated between continental and world championships in even years, and odd years have gone without major tournaments.
All of this would completely dismantle Wenger’s model, inspired by a request from the Saudi Arabian Football Association. The development of this vision was supported by a total of 166 national associations from around the world, especially from Africa and Asia.
The first reaction of Alexander Čeferin, President of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, against the whole plan was clearly negative. Even with an indication of the possibility of a boycott of such a system by European associations.
Their representatives, specifically the presidents and secretaries-general, met on Tuesday as part of a video conference, which dealt extensively with the whole issue. “The result of the whole meeting is a joint approach of all 55 UEFA member associations. We have decided that through UEFA we will turn to the FIFA bodies together to present the whole project even closer than before, “says Petr Fousek, as the chairman of the Football Association of the Czech Republic, one of the participants in the meeting.
“We would like more detailed information from FIFA on deadlines, financial matters and other details of all kinds. Only when we clarify and clarify these things will we take a position on the matter, “says Fousek.
According to him, the whole thing should run very fast. “I expect a subsequent major meeting between UEFA and FIFA on this topic during October,” says the chairman of the Czech Football Association.
It is speculated that a possible final opinion on the whole matter should be issued by the FIFA Congress in May 2022.
Fousek did not want to discuss the issue of how favor and opposition to the whole project are divided across continents: “It’s more complicated.”
Nor did he want to consider what might have happened if there had been no agreement between UEFA and FIFA. That is, whether FIFA would abandon such visions, or would it threaten to start everything with the risk of a European boycott. “Such thoughts go too far, there is no point in commenting on such a thing now. We asked for more information, when we get to know them, we will comment more closely on the matter, “added Fousek.
Wenger’s model would have to dramatically simplify qualification systems on all continents. And if the World Championships were always held in even years, all continental championships would have to be postponed to odd years.
Negatives of Wenger’s visions have already been expressed by professional league associations. We brought more information about the whole project here.
It is clear that holding the World Championships in a two-year cycle would significantly increase FIFA’s revenue from this tournament, which, according to the organization, is watched on television by up to 4 billion people around the planet. UEFA and professional leagues, on the other hand, would be at risk of their own revenues.
“A lot of matches are being played now, our system would bring more efficiency to everything. When we regroup and reduce qualifications, players will ultimately welcome it. We would guarantee them the necessary rest, “says Arséne Wenger.
The World Championships in Qatar will take place in December next year. For the year 2026, the world championship is allocated to Canada, the USA and Mexico. 48 countries will already take part in this tournament.
Whether such megaturnaje will be played every two years will be intensively discussed in the coming weeks and months.
