The World Cup is held every four years but the Saudi Arabian Football Federation put forward a proposal for a study of switching to every two years; FIFA president Gianni Infantino called it 'eloquent and detailed'; Infantino also reiterates FIFA stance on European Super League
Saturday 22 May 2021 07:39, UK
FIFA will carry out a feasibility study on holding the men's World Cup and the women's World Cup every two years after backing a proposal at its annual congress on Friday.
The two competitions are held every four years but the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) put forward a proposal for a study of the impact of switching to every two years.
"We believe the future of football is at a critical juncture. The many issues that football has faced have now been further exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic," said SAFF president Yasser Al-Misehal.
"It is time to review how the global game is structured and to consider what is best for the future of our sport.
"This should include whether the current four-year cycle remains the optimum basis for how football is managed both from a competition and commercial perspective.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino called it an "eloquent and detailed proposal" with 166 national federations voting in favour and 22 voting against.
Infantino said the study would look into the qualification systems for the tournaments.
Congress also backed a motion from the Jamaican federation to look into a global women's football competition, with the general secretary of the Caribbean nation's federation Dalton Wint suggesting the possibility of a women's world league or women's Club World Cup.
Infantino reiterated FIFA is against breakaway competitions like the European Super League but believes there is a need to make football a more globally competitive sport.
Infantino and some of his staff at FIFA are reported to have been involved in and offered backing, at least initially, to the clubs involved in the Super League plans.
Addressing the congress, he said: "A lot has been talked in recent weeks about a Super League in Europe, some kind of breakaway competition outside the football structures.
"I have said it before and let me say it again, clearly and unequivocally, FIFA is against any such project."
The Super League was launched with 12 founder clubs on April 18, but collapsed within 72 hours amid fan protests and pressure from UEFA, FIFA, national associations and governments.
However, Infantino clearly favours a shake-up of some description, stating there was "insufficient balance" in the current system of football, with money and player talent concentrated in the hands of too few clubs.
"We want the rest of the world, and the rest of Europe which is not part of the elite, to grow as well, and at a much higher pace than so far because we want to make football truly global," he said.
"We do not see equal opportunities throughout the world. We do not see too much solidarity either.
"To be honest, there is a concentration of money and player talent which does not serve the global development interests of the game, and it is our responsibility at FIFA to address this imbalance."
Infantino added there was no "collusion" on the part of FIFA over the Super League project, despite claims from LaLiga president Javier Tebas that Infantino was involved in the plans.
"To listen to some clubs, and to speak to some clubs, doesn't certainly mean that FIFA was behind, was colluding, was plotting for any Super League clubs," he said.
"We should look at the facts and not rumours or corridor gossip, especially not coming from certain parts.
"I have been working in positions of relevance for decades now and I know many clubs, I speak with clubs for many years, since my days at UEFA.
"And when speaking to European clubs, the Super League topic always is a topic for discussion, always. Everybody in football knows that.
"So we will not play games here. Everybody in football knows that for years and years some clubs are studying and preparing for this or similar projects.
"In the 16 years I was in UEFA we always managed to manage that and I can tell you that there were projects that were far more advanced than the one we have seen recently."
The UK has identified almost 100 international sporting events it has aspirations to host over the next decade which would bring a combined benefit to the economy of almost £7bn.
UK Sport, with strong support from the Government, has earmarked 97 events across 44 sports, including 46 world championships, between now and 2031.
Some of those events have already been secured, while others like the 2030 men's football World Cup, an English bid for the 2025 women's rugby World Cup and the 2031 Ryder Cup are at the feasibility study stage.
While UK Sport could not put a figure on how many of those events it would actually secure, it said the UK's bid success ratio stood at around 80 per cent over the last four years, which would equate to 78 of those 97 events being secured if bids ultimately went in for all of them.
