PARIS — FIFA has invited football's national federations to an
online summit on September 30 to discuss the international calendar, in its
push to hold the World Cup every two years instead of four.
اضافة اعلان
World football's governing body wants to launch a "new
consultation phase" for the international women's and men's calendar, set
to expire at the end of 2023 and 2024 respectively.
"There is a broad consensus within the game that the
international match calendar should be reformed and improved," FIFA said
in a statement Monday.
"Following invitations to stakeholders, including all
confederations, at the beginning of September, discussions are being organised
in the coming weeks.
"FIFA also invited its member associations to a first
online summit on September 30. This is one of several opportunities to
establish a constructive and open debate, at a global and regional level, over
the coming months."
The controversial proposal for a biennial World Cup was
revived in March by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, now head of global
football development at
FIFA.
The idea would be to have an international tournament each
year from 2025-2026, alternating World Cups and continental tournaments such as
the European Championship and Copa America.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is fiercely opposed to
the proposal and threatened that European nations would boycott a biennial
World Cup.
South American confederation CONMEBOL said the project had
"no sporting justification".
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has promised decisions on
staging a World Cup every two years would be made by the end of the year.
Last week FIFA published an online poll that claimed a
majority of football fans support the idea of a "more frequent" World
Cup.
The results of the survey came in stark contrast to the
opposition of numerous national supporters’ groups worldwide.
Global players' union FIFPro has denounced "the
absence of a real dialogue" on the subject, pointing out the "natural
physiological limits" of footballers.
"Without the agreement of the players, who bring all
competitions to life on the pitch, no such reforms will have the required
legitimacy," said FIFPro general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann.
Read more Sports
.jpg)
.jpg)
