Old glories, polls and patronage … FIFA leads its boat to impose its biennial World Cup

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From our special correspondent in Turin,

Was it necessary to see, in the embarrassed smile of Didier Deschamps when answering the million dollar question on the biennial World Cup desired by FIFA, the certainty of a lasting disagreement with his boss? Because it is a fact, the coach of the France team does not see things the same way as Noël Le Graët, ready to dive into the new bath as long as he finds any benefit. “I must know if this project enriches or impoverishes the French Federation, of which I am the president”, he sums up in comments collected by The team.

The day of the announcement of his list for the final four of the League of Nations, DD for his part posed the coach’s apron to express himself as a former player: “the fact of being able to move on to a world every two years gives me the feeling of trivializing it, I think that’s the most correct word. I don’t want to be the veteran, but we’re used to it, the World Cup is every four years. Until now it was very good like that. “

FIFA’s arguments (and bad faith)

Since it is a question of veterans, note that others preferred to follow in the wake of Commander Arsène Wenger, director of football development at FIFA and the movement’s first VRP in favor of a biennial World Cup. Elders like Trezeguet, Djorkaeff, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Schmeichel or Nuno Gomes, “legends” paid as ambassadors, were thus
gathered in early September around the former Arsenal coach to say how good they felt about the new calendar. Among the arguments put forward, we note:

  • An obsolete international calendar, chopped by too many truces. “In September, there is a first truce. In October, a second. In November, a third. Then there is either a winter break or the championships continue. Then there is a new truce in March. And in June, there is a fifth “, summarized Wenger. An archaic system to which the French offers two alternatives. The first, with a big autumnal truce where the playoffs that we know would be played. The second, with two truces, one in October and the other in March, before switching to competitions in summer.What about the League of Nations, in all that?
  • More chances for players to play in a World Cup in their career. Whether it is due to injury or because they belong to a country which is less likely to qualify, great players are missing out on the biggest football event. This is the Peter Schmeichel argument: “I come from a small country with few inhabitants. We have no guarantee of qualification, in a difficult sporting environment in Europe. I qualified for a World Cup only. “
  • The popular guarantee through the pseudo-will of supporters who would demand “more high-stakes and quality matches”. The body unveiled in mid-September an online study of 15,000 people “with an interest in football”, showing a slight majority (55%) in favor of a World Cup more frequent than its current quadrennial pace.

“Who is this supporter that FIFA says it wants to please?” “

The opinion of the small sample and the vague title is not quite in line with that of the supporters we contacted just after the famous Doha conference. Hervé Mougin, president of the irresistible French.

“I can understand that the supporter is the 5th wheel of the carriage, because the viewer has gained more weight, I regret it but I understand it. But that we try to use our voice by saying that all this is a request from the supporters, that no. Some viewers, maybe, supporters, no. We are a shapeless mass between those who are in front of their TV, those in the stadiums, no worries about that. But who was supposed to represent us at FIFA? Who is this supporter that FIFA says it wants to please? “

From this point of view, the resemblance to the Super League is disturbing, as Ronan Evain, CEO of Football Supporters Europe association. “The Super League was to favor fantasized supporters on the other side of the world to the detriment of supporting at the stadiums. There, we are somewhat in the same configuration. The fan that FIFA talks about does not exist and is fantasized, with no opinion apart from that of a consumer who would always like more football. FIFA knows that we are opposed to it, we have told them so, and they chose to lie by saying that it was made for the supporters. These same supporters who will therefore be asked to travel every summer, without asking whether they will have the means or the availability.

Europe and Conmebol against the rest of the world

If not for the fans, then who benefits from the crime? Certainly not to UEFA and Conmebol, which threatened to boycott the first “illegitimate” World Cup in 2028. Allies of circumstances, the two confederations have agreed to revive the Intercontinental Cup – opposing the winners of the ‘Euro and Copa América – in order to occupy the calendar and express their dissatisfaction.

“The other football powers, which are UEFA and ECA (the union of the big clubs), took it badly for FIFA to announce this without having been consulted, while the big stars today play in Europe and therefore have European clubs as employers, explains Dominique Courdier, director of information at News Tank Football, an information agency for managers. FIFA announced this point blank trying to take UEFA and ECA up to speed. The result is a quarrel at the top. “

In fact, not paying attention to what Europe thinks of football is an old habit that dates back to the Havelange-Blatter era, who understood before everyone else that it was not with the support of the Old Continent that we reigned over the world of football, if not the allegiance of Africa and Asia. To understand this, we have to look at how FIFA Congresses work, where every major decision is taken: one country = one vote. In other words, the vote of Noël Le Graët weighs as much as that of the president of the federation of Nepal. UEFA + Conmebol are worth 65 votes, Africa and Asia 110. Even if the 36 other member nations – and this will not be the case – voted against a biennial World, that would not be enough to turn the tide.

And what do African and Asian nations stand to gain in this affair? As always, a little more room in a World Cup dominated by European and South American nations as well only funds to develop (officially). Dominique Courdier:

“FIFA is in its role when it says it wants to develop football on a global level. This mission is in its statutes. You don’t have to see everything in black and white. If we put ourselves in Infantino’s shoes, it is normal to no longer want this European and South American hegemony over the World Cup. For an African or Asian team to reach the semi-finals, the final, they must participate more, and ensure that football is developed everywhere, not just in Manchester, Turin or Munich. “

The ECA has a wild card up its sleeve

If the game has a great chance of being won by FIFA in the end, Europe has, through the voice of the ECA, still a small chance of stopping Zurich’s plans. This demanded, at the end of September “detailed negotiations” with the world body “and a joint approval of the international calendar”, thus claiming a right of veto.

The association, chaired by PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, for the time being refers to the agreement which governs its relations with the world body and must be renegotiated for the post-2024 period. In addition to this agreement, the 247 clubs represented by the ECA each have a means of pressure: they are the employers of most of the internationals involved in the major final stages, and can challenge in court the obligation to make them available. . Opposite, FIFA must for its part go quickly, in order to launch the call for tenders for the first World Cup of the new era, in 2028. If it ever sees the light of day.


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