MUNICH (DPA) – Former Bayern board member Karl-Heinz Rümenigge is skeptical about reform plans for a world championship every two years and calls for a “rationalization” of the calendar.
“I’m not a fan of inflationary developments in football. I think fans are basically satisfied with this rhythm: a European championship every four years, a world championship every four years,” said the 65-year-old. Tuesday evenings on Build Em TV. “The solution should be to create a better football calendar than it is today.”
Rummenig also criticized developments in recent years with the expansion of the field of participants in the newly introduced Nations League and European and World Championships. You have to split the calendar into more blocks, you don’t need more games, but need more quality. “You don’t necessarily have to escalate things. You have to rationalize them,” he said. The long-time head of FC Bayern Munich sits on the executive committee of the European Football Association as a representative of the club association ECA.
FIFA director Arsene Wenger recently revealed that his technical advisory group will officially propose hosting the World Cup every two years. As a result, the change should eventually take effect with 48 countries in the United States, Canada and Mexico for the first time since the 2026 World Cup. Association tournaments will then be held in 2027, including the European Championship. In the already planned EM year 2028, the next World Cup was due to take place again.
This was strongly criticized by the President of the European Football Association, Alexander Ceferin, and threatened to boycott the World Cup. He believes that FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is considered a supporter of reform plans, cannot insist on a two-year cycle at the end, Rumenig said. “It’s a bargaining chip to get a better calendar.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210915-99-222762 / 3
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