FIFA wants fewer breaks with less long-haul travel for players, and one option calls for a single long break in October.
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The leagues prefer keeping the current system of pausing for one weekend four times each season to clear space for national-team games. “Football as a whole cannot accept those proposals,” he said after a two-day meeting of European Leagues members in Milan. “The FIFA proposals are detrimental for the domestic competitions, for the clubs, for the players and for all the fans,” Swart said, echoing the views of European football body UEFA and fan groups. It's estimated that playing a World Cup every two years would add about $3 billion to FIFA’s revenue that is currently $6 billion in a four-year commercial cycle with one men’s edition.įIFA’s proposal also calls for biennial continental tournaments like the European Championship and South America’s Copa America to ensure major men’s events in June every year.įIFA argues this is necessary to attract and retain young fans and fuel development of football globally.
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The leagues cited the risk of “a severe shift in sporting and economic value from domestic to international competitions.” “We do have no other alternative than strongly reject the FIFA proposals,” said Swart, a former official at the Netherlands' top league. “We have also understood very clearly (Thursday) that this does not mean that the proposal from FIFA is off the table,” European Leagues managing director Jacco Swart said Friday. The 33-nation European Leagues group was later briefed by FIFA officials, including Arsène Wenger, who shaped the proposal that includes biennial World Cups and fewer, but longer, breaks in domestic seasons to play national team games.įIFA decided this week not to push for a December vote of its 211 member federations and instead to host online talks on Dec.
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That was seen as him acknowledging the strength of European opposition to doubling the frequency of the World Cup. Europe’s top football leagues cautioned that FIFA’s biennial World Cup plan is still on the table and they vowed Friday to resist the proposed overhauls of the international match schedule.įIFA president Gianni Infantino promised Wednesday to seek a global consensus during a longer period of consultation about the World Cup's future.