GENEVA: FIFA President Gianni Infantino linked his plan for biennial World Cups on Wednesday to giving more hope to Africans who risk their lives crossing the sea to Europe.
In a speech to European lawmakers, Infantino said soccer was being dominated by the few who “have everything” and it needed to be more global and inclusive.
“We need to find ways to include the entire world, to give hope to Africans so that they don’t need to cross the Mediterranean in order to find, maybe, a better life but more probably death in the sea,” Infantino told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at Strasbourg, France.
He spoke on the day Spanish authorities said at least 18 people died and more than 300 were rescued from several boats trying to reach the Canary Islands from North Africa.
“We need to give dignity, not by giving charity but by allowing the rest of the world as well to participate,” Infantino told lawmakers at a session he attended with Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s director of global development.
FIFA and Wenger have been strongly resisted across European soccer since launching a formal proposal in September to organize men’s and women’s World Cups every two years instead of four.
Infantino has said organizing more editions of the World Cup will lead to more countries qualifying and fuel interest there. It would also raise billions of dollars for FIFA and increase funding for its 211 member federations to develop soccer.
Though Infantino was a longtime staffer at UEFA before being elected to FIFA in 2016, a constant theme of his presidency has been countering Europe’s dominance of the World Cup — Italy, Spain, Germany and France won the past four tournaments — and its clubs hiring the best players from other continents.
One of Infantino’s first big projects at FIFA was adding 16 nations to the World Cup for a 48-team competition from 2026, when Africa will have nine entries instead of five. Europe will get 16.
“In Europe, there is no need for additional possibilities and events,” Infantino told lawmakers at the 47-nation Council of Europe which promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Soccer must not effectively tell the world to hand over its money and best players “but watch us on TV,” Infantino said. “We have to make (football) truly global, we have to make it truly inclusive such as the values that have built Europe and we are bringing as well all over the world.”
Infantino acknowledged “maybe the World Cup every two years is not the answer.”
FIFA’s push for biennial World Cups has been uncertain since it stalled ahead of a December online meeting of its members where a vote had once been expected but was not called.
Leaders of UEFA and South American soccer body CONMEBOL have threatened to boycott biennial World Cups. They said more World Cups risk disrupting the balance between national and club team soccer and damaging continental competitions such as the Champions League, European Championship and Copa America.
Star players such as Kylian Mbappé, a 2018 World Cup winner with France, have said doubling the number of World Cups would dilute its prestige and overload them in an already congested fixture schedule.
The International Olympic Committee has also publicly criticized FIFA’s plan which could put the World Cup in direct competition with the Summer Games by 2032.
The IOC also rallied other sports to challenge Infantino in December over soccer’s plan to acquire more space and commercial income in the global schedule.
FIFA links more World Cups to averting migrant deaths at sea
https://arab.news/p4c7v
FIFA links more World Cups to averting migrant deaths at sea
- In a speech to European lawmakers, Infantino said soccer was being dominated by the few who “have everything” and it needed to be more global and inclusive
- “We need to give dignity, not by giving charity but by allowing the rest of the world as well to participate,” Infantino told lawmakers
WWII leader Churchill to be removed from UK banknotes
- The next series of banknotes due to be issued by the Bank of England will feature animals native to the UK
- The bank will gather views later this year about the specific wildlife the public would like to feature on the next set of banknotes
LONDON: World War II leader Winston Churchill is to be dropped from the UK £5 banknote in favor of a nature scene, sparking outrage from some lawmakers who said he should not be replaced by an otter or badger.
Novelist Jane Austen, artist J. M. W. Turner and mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing, are also due to be phased out on the £10, £20 and £50 banknotes respectively as part of a redesign.
The next series of banknotes due to be issued by the Bank of England will feature animals native to the UK, in a shift away from images of prominent Britons.
Possibilities, subject to a public consultation, include badgers and otters as well as frogs, hedgehogs, barn owls and newts. Plants and landscapes will complete the scenes depicted.
“For more than 50 years, the bank has proudly showcased many inspirational historical figures who have helped shape national thought, innovation, leadership and values on its banknotes,” the bank said.
“The change to wildlife imagery ... provides an opportunity to celebrate another important aspect of the UK,” it added.
The bank will gather views later this year about the specific wildlife the public would like to feature on the next set of banknotes.
Bank of England chief cashier Victoria Cleland said the key driver for a new series of banknotes was how to stay ahead of counterfeiters.
“Nature is a great choice from a banknote authentication perspective and means we can showcase the UK’s rich and varied wildlife on the next series of banknotes,” she added.
- ‘Shaped this nation’ -
The new banknotes will not appear for several years.
They will continue to feature a portrait of the monarch King Charles III on the other side. Banknotes with the late Queen Elizabeth II also remain in circulation.
Previous banknotes have pictured other national figures including novelist Charles Dickens, physicist and chemist Michael Faraday, composer Edward Elgar, nurse Florence Nightingale and architect Christopher Wren.
The most recent series — rolled out between 2016 and 2021 — was printed for the first time on polymer rather than paper.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, was among lawmakers who criticized the new nature theme.
“Let’s celebrate our wonderful British wildlife, sure, but Winston Churchill helped save our country and the whole of Europe from fascism,” he wrote on X.
“He deserves better than being replaced by a badger,” he said.
Main opposition Conservative lawmaker Alex Burghart called the decision “outrageous.”
“He (Churchill) earned his place on our five pound note. He must not be replaced with an otter,” he said on X, adding the “great people who shaped this nation” should not be forgotten.
