Next revolution on the table
Infantino wants a World Cup every three years
A World Championship to the rhythm of the Federal Wrestling Festival? Not unlikely, Fifa should discuss a three-year cycle for the global football tournament.
1/5
FIFA, headed by President Gianni Infantino, apparently has plans to hold the World Cup every three years.
Apparently Gianni Infantino is bubbling over with ideas to further transform international football.
After the Valais announced that the Club World Cup would be increased from 7 to 32 teams from 2025, according to English media reports, the next innovation is already on the table. The Fifa President and other MPs apparently want to host the World Cup every three years – the same rhythm as the Swiss wrestling festival ESAF.
It wasn’t long ago that world football’s governing body had the vision of holding the tournament every two years. This met with a lot of resistance, especially from the European continental association Uefa and the South American CONMEBOL. Eventually the project was scrapped. Arsène Wenger (73), Fifa director for global football promotion, recently told the editorial network Germany: “Meanwhile, this project has ended up in the drawer, also because many clubs have clearly positioned themselves against it.”
Cycle no earlier than 2033
As the Guardian and the Daily Mail write, it is also the case with the three-year cycle that Asian and African nations welcome the idea, but Europe and South America are strongly opposed to it.
Infantino probably got a taste for the more frequent staging because the tournament in Qatar generated more revenue than ever before. Almost seven billion francs have been generated in the desert state. That is around 950 million more than four and a half years ago in Russia.
According to the “Daily Mail”, the World Cup every three years is only possible after 2030. The appointment calendar for the years 2024 to 2030 is said to be about to be adopted. This would mean that the first World Cup of the new cycle would take place in 2033 at the earliest. (che)