Since 1930, one of the world's biggest sporting events, the World Cup, has been held every four years in a different country or region (except for 1942 and 1946, when it was canceled due to World War II), attracting a conservative estimate of at least 3 billion viewers (both live and broadcast) each year, and it is likely to be held even more frequently in the future. Each edition is conservatively estimated to attract at least 3 billion viewers (both live and broadcast), and the tournament is likely to be held more frequently in the future.At the FIFA General Assembly in May 2021, the Saudi Arabian government announced that it would be organizing the World Cup for the first time.
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A vote was held on the feasibility of organizing the Men's and Women's World Cups on a biennial basis, as proposed. Out of 188 valid votes, 166 votes were cast in favor of the proposal. Although this vote is only an opinion poll and does not mean that a biennial World Cup will be implemented, it is clear that the majority of FIFA members (countries) are in favor of the proposal.
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) is supportive of this reform.
Arsène Wenger, who has been the coach of the Arsenal for 22 years and is currently FIFA's Director of World Football Development, has proposed a plan for the biennial World Cup that includes the following: the World Cup will be held in even-numbered years, while intercontinental cups will be held in odd-numbered years, meaning that the World Cup and intercontinental cups will be held in alternating years; one or two mid-season international breaks (International Break), which lasts for a month during which all major international cup qualifying matches are held; and the provision of a certain amount of rest and vacation for players after the cups; and a certain amount of rest and vacation for players after the cups. The International Break is a one-month period during which the qualifying matches for major international cups are played, and the players are provided with a certain amount of rest and vacation after the cups are over.
What will the reorganization bring?
On an economic level, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that according to studies, if the World Cup were to be biennialized, it would generate $4.4 billion in additional revenue, and each member association would receive an average of $16 million in additional funding. According to OpenEconomics, a biennialization of the men's World Cup would generate more than $180 billion in new GDP over a 16-year period and create 2 million full-time jobs. Additionally, a shorter interval between tournaments could allow more countries to host the World Cup. Because of the huge tourism revenues behind it, many countries are waiting to become hosts, and shortening the four-year interval to two years would allow countries in the queue to get their wish sooner.
Secondly, there is the development level of the overall soccer world. As Infantino once said, the World Cup is not really a "World Cup". It's a tournament for the top teams, those who have traditionally performed well in Europe and South America, and the rest of the world has very little chance to participate. 133 of FIFA's current 211 members have not participated in the World Cup's intra-conference tournaments. Starting from the 2026 World Cup, the number of teams participating in intra-committee matches will be expanded to 48, which means more qualifications for the World Cup and a higher frequency of organizing the tournaments will naturally increase the chances of participating in the tournaments. In addition, in the era of advanced social media and up-to-date information, more frequent World Cups can attract more young people to watch and more sponsors to invest in the tournament than waiting for four years, which is similar to the reason why the UEFA Super League was established last year. This is similar to the reason for the establishment of the UEFA Super League last year. It is clear that for both FIFA and the football clubs, how to attract young viewers in the era of advanced digital media is a major issue, and adding more high-quality matches is a solution they have come up with together.
dissenting voice
Not everyone is in favor of this reform.
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Officials, the International Olympic Committee, UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and many players have voiced their opposition to this. UEFA published a study in December 2021 predicting that the biennial World Cup could lead to UEFA being allocated the rights to broadcast, ticketing, sponsorships, and other factors to the various European football teams.
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The World Leagues Forum also states that many of the top professional leagues and UEFA will lose 8 billion euros in revenue every season. The World Leagues Forum (World Leagues Forum) also pointed out that many top professional leagues and UEFA will lose 8 billion euros in revenue every season. Therefore, even if the World Cup restructuring will generate considerable new profits, it may still face the problem of uneven benefits.
Another criticism is that the tight fixture schedule may lead to pressure on the players' health and psychology. According to Wenger's plan, the players may encounter the World Cup or other intercontinental tournaments at the end of each season, which will squeeze the players' rest time after the tournaments. The increased number of high-intensity tournaments and reduced number of qualifying matches may cause players who are already busy with various competitions to become even more tired, while those who lack the chance to play in international matches will have fewer chances to perform because of the reduced number of qualifying matches. Well-known players such as Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé have expressed their disagreement with this schedule. They all believe that the World Cup is already full of matches and that the change in format could lower the standard of the tournament and even harm the health of the players.
