A World Cup held every two years, something that FIFA has been studying for years, would “dilute” the “jewel” of world football, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday.
“You have probably heard that FIFA conducts a feasibility study” to double the frequency of its flagship tournament, launched the pattern of European football during the opening of the general assembly of the European Club Association (ECA).
«Well, we believe that the jewel that is the World Cup owes its value to its infrequency. Organizing it every two years (…) will lower its legitimacy and dilute the World Cup itself, ”he argued.
For Ceferin, who had already rejected this project in an interview agreed to with AFP in mid-July, national team and club matches occupy “fully the physical and commercial space” of the calendar, which it would lose if it were further expanded.
“Our players don’t need to spend even more summer in grueling tournaments, instead devoting their time to rest and recovery.”
UEFA’s hostility to the FIFA project has been known for months, when the European body also plans to reform the Champions League from 2024, with a hundred additional games per season.
Last week, FIFA’s new Director of Development, French Arsène Wenger, defended a World Cup every two years in an interview with the daily L’Equipe.
The new president of the ECA Nasser Al-Khelaifi, head of the Paris SG, declared for his part that the reform of the calendar is the “most urgent” challenge facing the clubs, “which bear all the risks” of overload of matches.
“International competitions cannot stifle the relationships of the fans and players with the clubs,” or amputate “vital resources” that the leagues draw from domestic competitions, he insisted. AFP (HN)