PICTURED: APA / AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI
London. Fifa President Gianni Infantino once again knows how to excite world football and keep it moving. With his plan to have the World Cup with 48 teams no longer every four, but every two years from 2026, he aroused a lot of criticism from Europe's clubs. The Uefa are also shooting sharply against this “deadline madness”, which means even fewer breaks in play and regeneration for the professionals. And it could undermine its own European Cup business.
In order not to see himself confronted with the first waves of rejection, Infantino – he also learned the sensitivities and wishes of the functionaries from Sepp Blatter – sent “lighthouses”. Former football icons like Arsène Wenger are supposed to pave the way for his project. The Frenchman, 71 and decades in the service of the Arsenal Gunners, is “Director” of the Technical Advisory Group. He says: “Football needs a new rhythm. If we continue like this, we will hit the wall. “
What sounds completely unfamiliar at first glance, is Wengers and Infantinos sheer seriousness: The World Cup should run every two years. To introduce: World Cup, then European Championship, the following year again World Cup – Wenger promoted considering the groundbreaking concept in its entirety. “A World Cup every two years only makes sense if you also restructure all qualifying matches.” He would reduce them and set up fewer, longer international match windows. As a result, clubs would have their players available longer and they would have to travel less often. Wenger insisted that the number of games will not increase.
“The World Cup remains a global event”
Hosting the World Cup more frequently would by no means be inflationary, it would remain a “global event. You want to be the best in the world, and you want to be the best in the world every year. But I don't know the forces that are for or against. “
Uefa President Aleksander Čeferin is against it. With him the ECA, the European Club Association, in which all major clubs are represented – including Salzburg, Rapid, Sturm and Austria. The Fifa proposals would have a “direct and destructive impact on our competitions, both internationally and nationally,” warned the ECA. In addition, there are health concerns, the Fifa plan is “selfish”.
Of course, it's about power and who can make even more money. An online summit on the international game calendar has been scheduled for September 30th. It's about the future of the World Cup, Europe's events – and the distribution of the money cake. (fin)
