LAUSANNE: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Monday said that holding the World Cup every two years, as Arsene Wenger has recently suggested, would “dilute” the tournament.
Former Arsenal boss Wenger, who is now director of development at FIFA, on Saturday called for football’s showpiece competition to become a biennial event.
The World Cup has been held every four years, besides cancelations during World War II, since the inaugural edition in 1930.
“We think that the jewel of the World Cup has value precisely because of its rarity,” Ceferin said at a general assembly of the European Club Association.
“But holding it every two years, will by our opinion, lead to more randomization, less legitimacy, and it will unfortunately dilute the World Cup itself.
“The international match calendar does not need that. Our players don’t need to see more of their summers spent on consuming tournaments rather than devoted to relaxing and recuperation.”
UEFA has long been against a more frequent World Cup and earlier this year announced a revamped version of its Nations League tournament, with 100 more matches per season.
Former United States coach Jill Ellis said Sunday she “is open to everything” when asked about the Women’s World Cup potentially being held every two years.
UEFA’s Ceferin says biennial World Cup would ‘dilute’ tournament
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UEFA’s Ceferin says biennial World Cup would ‘dilute’ tournament
- Arsenal’s ex-boss Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s director of development, Saturday called for football's showpiece competition to become a biennial event
- UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said holding it every two years will unfortunately dilute the World Cup
Guardiola delivers speech in support of Palestinian children
- Star Manchester City manager wore keffiyeh at charity concert in Barcelona
- They have been ‘abandoned’ because ‘those in power are cowards’
LONDON: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola delivered a speech in support of Palestinian children at a charity concert in Barcelona, calling for greater action to protect them.
The star manager, 55, wore a keffiyeh and spoke passionately about his pain at seeing the suffering of Palestinian children, Sky News reported.
“Good evening, salam alaikum, how wonderful,” he told the crowd. “When I see a child in these past two years with these images on social media, on television, recording himself pleading ‘where is my mother?’ among the rubble and he still doesn’t know it.
“And I always think, ‘What must they be thinking?’ And I think we’ve left them alone, abandoned.” He added: “I always imagine them saying, ‘Where are you? Come help us.’”
Guardiola said “even now, we haven’t done it,” because perhaps “those in power are cowards,” adding: “They basically send innocent young people to kill innocent people.”
He demanded a “step forward” as part of what he described as a “statement for Palestine and … a statement for humanity.”
