The International Olympic Committee wants to have more discussions over controversial plans by the world football body FIFA to hold the World Cup every two years instead of every four.
England’s forward Harry Kane (L) attempts to score past Croatia’s goalkeeper Danijel Subasic during the Russia 2018 World Cup
Photo: AFP
FIFA’s proposals are set to be voted on in December by the 211 member associations, with president Gianni Infantino, also an IOC member, travelling the world to rally support for the plan, which has been fronted by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
But the plan has met with fierce criticism from a number of continental and national federations, players’ groups as well as fans.
European football body UEFA said there were numerous concerns about the impact of such a switch including the “dilution” of the World Cup’s value, risks of players being over-worked and women’s football suffering from annual men’s tournaments.
“A number of international federations of other sports, national football federations, clubs, players, player associations and coaches have expressed strong reservations and concerns regarding the plans to generate more revenue for FIFA,” the IOC’s Executive Board said in a statement.
It said these concerns related to the impact a World Cup every two years could have on other sports, players’ welfare and an increase of men’s events impacting gender equality.
“The IOC shares these concerns and supports the calls of stakeholders of football, international sports federations and major event organisers for a wider consultation, including with athletes’ representatives, which has obviously not taken place.”
European and South American clubs, leagues and confederations are confident they can stop the plan, regardless of the outcome of a vote, multiple sources have told Reuters, raising the prospect of a damaging split in the international game.
UEFA has threatened to boycott an additional World Cup, while South American body CONMEBOL is also opposed to the plans.
– Reuters
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
