World Cups have been in existence since 1930, and if there have been any significant changes to the format since then, these have usually affected the number of participants. The World Cup grew from 13 to 16 and 24 to currently 32; And to the great annoyance of many fans and those involved, the world association Fifa will even increase to 48 teams from the edition in 2026. The reason for the increases was almost always the same: It was about securing the sport-political support of small and medium-sized nations that would also like to take part in a World Cup. So: about power.
This motivation now also plays into an idea that is being noticeably pushed by Fifa and that would have even more far-reaching consequences for the football world than the eternal expansion of the starting field: a new World Cup rhythm. No longer every four years, as has been done since 1930, but every two years there should be a final round.
This is obviously the next attempt by the scandalous Fifa boss Gianni Infantino to fulfill his fantasies of increasing power and increasing money. He has been trying to turn football upside down for some time and is therefore at odds with the head of Europe’s football union Uefa and its president Aleksander Ceferin. For example, at the end of 2018, a billion-dollar project was pushed ahead that would have led to the sale of all central Fifa rights – but was exposed before it was completed. It continued in that style. And now the next spectacular attack on the established structures is taking place in the form of a new World Cup rhythm, once again embedded in an explosive mixture.
The latest symptom of the overload: the dispute over dismissal is escalating
The question of how power is divided in football, the calendar that has long been overflowing, and the eternal greed to squeeze even more out of the system are already generating fierce debates and conflicts over distribution. This can currently be seen, for example, in the dispute over whether European clubs are obliged to send their players to World Cup qualifiers in Corona-plagued South America. According to the BBC, this has now escalated to the point that Fifa banned several Brazilian players from English Premier League clubs who were not allowed to their national team for five days (and thus for the first UEFA Champions League matchday), including Liverpool’s trio Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino as well as Gabriel Jesus (ManCity) and Thiago Silva (Chelsea FC).
All those involved make little secret of the fact that they want to rebuild the football calendar in their own way, especially Fifa. There are “no taboos,” said Infantino, and, moreover, too many “meaningless games”. It may even be enough to push through other wishes under the threat of a World Cup reform.
In any case, the headwind is great and the opposition is broad-based. The central opponent is once again Uefa boss Ceferin. “More is not always better. The FIFA jewel of the World Cup has value because of its rarity. Every two years would mean less legitimacy and water down the World Cup itself,” said the Slovenian recently. It would have a particularly big impact on UEFA and European football if a World Cup tournament were to take place every other summer in the future. Not only because this would affect the importance of the European Championship, but also because the European clubs form the core of football operations and, above all, their players would have to deal with additional burdens.
Accordingly, representatives of leading clubs are clear. There is “no place in the current calendar,” said FC Bayern legal advisor Michael Gerlinger after a meeting of Europe’s club association ECA on Tuesday, which is why the Fifa plan is currently “impossible to accomplish”. The international association of professional leagues (World Leagues) rejects a new rhythm just as vehemently, and top players such as Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets speak out against it: “They are not interested in the players. They just want more tournaments and games. Players will explode at that rate, “he complained. In addition, many fans position themselves kla. “The overwhelming majority of fans are against a World Cup that takes place every two years,” wrote the “Football Supporters Europe” alliance, which includes around 50 fan organizations across Europe, including three German ones.
Vote for or against? The DFB positions itself evasively
But this does not seem to bother the world association in moving forward with the plans, in which many details and consequences are still unclear. In May he launched a feasibility study. Fifa director Arsène Wenger is drumming persistently and has already launched various approaches for compromise lines: You could then shorten qualifications or, as a concession to the clubs, reduce the posting windows for the national teams.
These days, old stars are constantly getting in touch with the idea, and this Wednesday and Thursday 40 glorious ex-professionals come together in Doha for a consultation at Fifa invitation, from Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos to Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann. It should go with the devil if Fifa could not produce a statement afterwards, according to which the two-year idea in this appointed circle of ex-world champions is considered a fabulous thing.
Apart from the prominent names, however, the question is how the federations position themselves. Africa’s continental association CAF was unsurprisingly behind the idea: There many nations were looking to participate in the World Cup for the first time, and FIFA orchestrated in the spring that the CAF top would be occupied by the billionaire Patrice Motsepe, who is loyal to Infantino. Supporters have already reported from Asia, and quite obviously some strategists are hoping that France will pull out of the European resistance because FIFA is building a new quarter in Paris.
It will therefore be necessary to closely monitor how the individual associations behave – including the German Football Association. Under the former President Reinhard Grindel, who resigned in April 2019, the DFB has always positioned itself clearly against Infantino’s wild goings-on. Ever since the long-time vice and current interim president Rainer Koch took over the international representation of the DFB and the board position at Uefa, one has clearly been moving towards the scandalous figure Infantino.
National team director Oliver Bierhoff said at the beginning of the week imagethat he thinks the current World Cup arrangement is ideal. However, the DFB does not answer the question whether this means that the DFB and its international representatives will vote against a two-year cycle. Instead, he reports evasively and noticeably more defensively than Bierhoff: “The DFB considers the current four-year rhythm for hosting world championships to be fundamentally appropriate, but will discuss the topic again at the next meeting of the executive committee.”