The German and Portuguese Soccer Federations strongly criticized plans to host the Men’s World Cup every two years, warning on Friday that a biennial format would expose players to more injuries and overshadow the Women’s World Cup.
FIFA said Thursday that it has the backing of fans to host the World Cup more often. The Union of European Football Federations (UEFA) and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) oppose FIFA’s plan and have threatened to boycott a World Cup every two years.
The German Football Federation, known as DFB, pointed out that FIFA had conducted its own opinion committee by proposing the plans first to a group of former players and that drastic changes “cannot be made without the approval of the European associations and the soccer of Europe ”.
Germany also raised concerns about the women’s tournament. The Women’s World Cup is currently held in odd-numbered years and avoids coinciding with major men’s tournaments. A two-year cycle to the World Cup could cause the continental championships to collide with the Women’s World Cup.
“In case that every summer is played either a World Cup or a European Championship, the women’s and youth tournaments would be marginalized in the shadow of the men’s competitions,” detailed the DFB.
Injuries are also a matter of concern, argued the DFB, although FIFA has said it would seek to lighten the workload for players by reducing national team matches out of competition.
The Portuguese Federation expressed similar concerns in a statement issued in conjunction with other soccer organizations in the country, including the Portuguese League and the local players’ union.
The document lists 10 reasons against the biennial World Cup, including the impact it could have on the physical and mental health of the players, the possibility that women’s and men’s tournaments coincide, the impact on youth competitions and the “saturation evident ”of the commercial market and television broadcasting rights.
“For all these factors and many others, it is clear that we cannot be in favor of the implementation of a measure like that and even less as a result of a non-existent consultation process, in terms of clubs, leagues, federations. , unions of players, technicians and referees, ”the statement underlined. (AP)