Ultimate formality or prelude to abandonment? Faced with the virulent opposition of many football players to its biennial World Cup project, Fifa brings together its 211 federations on Monday, December 20 for an online summit, without making them vote. With this “summit on the future of football” announced at the end of October, the world body hopes to give pledges of democratic consultation, which has focused criticism for several months.
Because by leaving its director of development, the French Arsène Wenger, to advocate in March the transition to a World Cup every two years, while it has taken place every four years since 1930 for men and 1991 for women, the Fifa gave the feeling of a project already tied up.
The organization has since struggled to convince that it is really open to all options to reform the international calendar beyond 2024, a subject so crucial that it has awakened all the dividing lines between club and national football. and small countries.
What impact on the health of the players, the economy of domestic competitions, the clubs forced to release their internationals, the supporters who save money and leave to support their selection, and even the audience of other sports and the Summer Olympics ? So many questions still pending.
On November 24, in a meeting facing various players in the round ball, Arsène Wenger therefore refined his copy by trying to convince that a biennial World Cup would serve everyone’s interests. The former Arsenal manager advocates a final phase every summer, alternating World and continental tournaments like the Euro or the Copa America, and regrouping the qualifications in October and March – rather than on a single window in October, finally judged “too extreme”.
“Too many players do not have enough opportunities to develop”, he pleaded last month, stressing the “unique showcase” that the World Cup represented for the Romanian Gheorghe Hagi, the Serbian Dejan Stankovic or the Japanese Hidetoshi Nakata. Whereas “133 countries have never played” the queen competition, he promised to offer “more likely to shine”, more revenue for world football, while reducing the number of truces inflicted on clubs and meeting supposed expectations “young supporters”.
Global survey: majority of supporters in favor of more frequent men’s and women’s World Cups
https://t.co/076BFTTBsG#WorldCup L #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/BlfV79PmqA
– FIFA.com (FR) (@fifacom_fr) December 17, 2021
Fifa also published on Friday the summary of a study of more than 30,000 people. “whose favorite sport is football”, with a majority in favor of a World Cup “more frequent” among men (63%) and women (52%) – but without detailed results or developed methodology.
In a system where each federation has a voice, regardless of its size, Fifa can count since November 26 on the unanimous support of the 54 African federations, and undoubtedly on the silent support of many Asian countries.
It is therefore almost certain to see its project pass if it is put to the vote of its next Congress, on March 31, 2022 in Doha, but is exposed to the anger of a large part of European and South American football, big clubs, representatives of leagues, players and supporters. Because far from having disarmed, this front of refusal has itself sharpened its arguments and organized the response, at the risk of fracturing world football in rival competitions.
UEFA first commissioned a study estimating the shortfall over four years for European federations over four years in the event of a biennial World Cup at 2.5 to 3 billion euros – hoping to convince dissonant voices like that of the boss of French football , Noël Le Graët, for whom “not looking at this project closely would be a mistake”.
But above all, in the fall, the European body accelerated its rapprochement with its South American counterpart, Conmebol, creating a new shock between continental champions next June and opening a joint office in London.
Friday, the body confirmed to AFP “to work” also on a “Common League of Nations” with the South American selections, which would bring together the best national teams in the world with the nose and beard of Fifa.