For football to be "truly global" FIFA President Gianni Infantino again preached in favor of holding the World Cup every two years, this Friday in Caracas as part of a tour of several South American countries.
"Our duty as FIFA is to make football truly global. For this to be the case, we have to analyze how to improve the football of national teams (…) and there is no competition that comes close" to the World Cup, Infantino said at a press conference at the UCV Olympic Stadium in Caracas.
Already raised and discarded in the 1990s, the idea of ​​a biennial World Cup instead of every four years, as has been disputed since its inception in 1930, has resurfaced in recent months.
But it is not an isolated initiative. At the end of May, FIFA conducted "a feasibility study" requested by the Saudi Federation, close to Infantino.
"The president of FIFA is the president of 211 countries and each of them has the right to dream. But, the dream must have a chance to come true, because if you are going to dream forever, you will end up doing something else.".
"Today, if we speak frankly, what are the real chances of Venezuela participating in the World Cup?"Infantino wondered, recalling that this nation of 30 million inhabitants has never participated in a World Cup and it is very unlikely that it will do so under current conditions (it is last in the Conmebol qualifier).
"The possibility of reforming the calendar with a World Cup every two years, we have analyzed it from a football point of view, is possible. There are many advantages, because we give more opportunities for many more countries to participate", detailed the president of FIFA.
"Reforming the calendar is possible"
"When it was decided that the World Cup had to be played every four years, around 100 years ago, FIFA had 40 affiliated countries"added. "It is time to analyze the question"he said, reiterating that a decision will be made by the end of the year.
"If we make changes, everyone has to feel that they won with them", he promised.
"The prestige of a tournament does not depend on the frequency with which it is played" Infantino said, who estimated that this reform could allow players to reach the World Cup on equal terms by reducing the comings and goings of South American players to play the qualifiers.
"Studies show traveling, with jet lag and climate change, is bad", said. "If Messi has to do 350,000 km to play a World Cup and Cristiano Ronaldo 50,000 … It is normal that the South Americans are a little more tired than the Europeans".
He mentioned a revealing statistic: "Since 2002, Brazil has not won a knockout stage or group stage match against a European country. 20 years have passed, and it is Brazil!".
But the idea of ​​playing a World Cup every two years has drawn great criticism.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin condemned this proposal in mid-June, judging it "impossible" in an interview with AFP.
For Conmebol, a World Cup every two years could "denature" the competition, "lowering its quality and undermining its exclusive character and its current standards of exigency".
Several coaches have also criticized the idea of ​​a biennial World Cup, such as the German Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool), who estimates that in this project "only money matters".
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