FIFA has acknowledged that it will look at the prospect of staging the World Cup every two years instead of four, including both men’s and women’s competitions.
Following a recommendation made at the annual congress by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF), the organization will conduct a feasibility report into the implications of such a decision.
The next men’s tournament will be hosted in Qatar at the end of 2022, with the women’s tournament following eight months later in Australia/New Zealand in 2023. However, any possible reshuffle will almost certainly result in widespread improvements. In both the club game and continental competitions such as the European Championship and Copa America.
SAFF Presidents Proposal:
In outlining the proposal, SAFF president Yasser Al-Misehal said, “We think the future of football is at a crucial juncture.”
“The recent pandemic has compounded the many problems that football has encountered in the past. It’s critical to examine how the global game is organized. And whether the existing four-year period is still the best basis for managing football from the competition and commercial standpoint. As well as overall football growth. By having less but more substantive competitive national team matches, questions about player safety may be addressed as the appeal. Merit of those tournaments was increased.”
Any future changes to the current structure would most likely take years. FIFA has not specified an end deadline for the feasibility review.
“We have to go through these studies with an open mind, but we are not going to take measures that would jeopardize what we are [already] doing,” said President Gianni Infantino, indicating that any investigation will not be hurried at the congress. Believe me, we understand the significance of the World Cup.
“I’d like to situate this debate in a wider sense, namely the international match schedule. When we suggest that people want more competitive games, are we truly persuaded that playing qualification games [across the year] is the best way to go?
All of these factors must be taken into account. However, we will choose the sports aspect over the commercial aspect.”
