FIFA seems to be determined to change the landscape of football as we know it, and their plan to have the FIFA World Cup being played every two years is in full motion.
According to a report by Marca, former coach Arsene Wenger revealed that FIFA is set to present a new calendar that would reduce international breaks to a minimum, making it easier for national teams and clubs all over the world to plan ahead of their championships. This change, always as per Wenger's words, would make it easier for the World Cup and continental competitions such as the Copa América or UEFA Euro to be held every two years.
"The current calendar makes no sense. We have a first international break in September, then one more in October, a third one in November, and then we go all the way to March for the fourth window. We have the final break in June and we have the new season in July. It's too much. We will try to re-group all qualifying games to avoid excessive trips. This way, August and September would be for the clubs, and we would use october for the qualifiers. We would have club football from November all the way to the end of the season, which would benefit everyone," Wenger said.
Arsenal's former boss revealed FIFA's take on this subject was prompted by constant complaints by footballers regarding the amount of games they played every year.
"Everyone in the world of football is worried by the amount and quality of games that are being played. Our focus will be to make less trips and worry less about climate changes for the players. The way we have combined club football and national team football is not adequate. We have to reduce the amount of games, but we also have to make them more interesting. Fans want the games to be more interesting. If we can do this, we can reduce the differences between confederations and we will give the same fighting chance for most countries," Wenger added.
Wenger admitted that the plan could be green-lit this year, mainly because most people involved in the football industry seem to be on board with this plan.
"The response by many members of the community has been very positive, which also includes positive feedback from active players. We will know if we are given the go-ahead by the federations on December 19. I believe that international breaks are the worst for all teams, and trust me, I know what I am talking about after being a coach for so long. If things fall into place, we could start to have a World Cup every two years starting in 2028," Wenger concluded.
