FIFA President Gianni Infantino will play a World Cup every two years instead of every four years. They have support from the African Union (CAF) – and can play a decisive role.
There is an opinion on the World Cup: Gianni Infantino and Patrice Motsepe.
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At its meeting in the Moroccan capital Rabat, the Executive Committee of the African continental federation CAF unanimously endorsed the idea promoted by the world federation FIFA. “Africa could be the biggest beneficiary of the World Cup every two years,” said former president Patrice Motsepe.
If there must be a vote, Infantino must be sure of Africa’s votes. And there are many more: seven of the 37 representatives on the decision-making FIFA Council come from CAF member states.
The South American umbrella organization CONMEBOL, with its five voting representatives on the council, also supports FIFA President Infantino’s vote to shorten the World Cup cycle from four to two years. It would already have 13 votes in favour, missing only six for a simple majority.
At the FIFA Congress in May, 166 of the 209 federations voted for a feasibility study to be carried out every two years in the World Cup finals. “What matters is the results of the study,” said Infantino at the time, but at the same time let his point of view shine through: “Clubs have the chance of five or six titles a year. Each national team would only have the chance. every four years.”
Wenger for it, Boban against it
FIFA lead developer Arsene Wenger already has a specific program in mind. If the former Arsenal coach has his way, everything will be different after the 2024 European Championship in Germany and the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada: a European Championship and other continental tournaments in 2027, another World Cup in 2028 , “And so on,” the Frenchman recently said: “It’s not about being right, but about finding the best solution for football.”
But UEFA in particular is opposed to Infantino’s plans. “The World Cup can’t happen every two years for a thousand reasons,” UEFA director Zvonimir Boban recently told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Already badly stressed top stars will probably skip the finals more often, with almost inflationary staging tournaments losing their value. In addition, there is a plethora of consumers, which shouldn’t be a fix forever. There is no concrete solution to all these problems so far.
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