FIFA puts new tournament plans on hold

A US$25-billion KIGALI, RWANDA overhaul of world soccer competitions was put on hold after mounting disapproval from European leaders and clubs saw FIFA president Gianni Infantino backtrack Friday and accept more consultation was necessary to avert a crisis. A vote was abandoned hours before the council meeting where Infantino hoped to secure approval from his council on the principle of revamping the Club World Cup and establishing a Global Nations League. “I am happy to have contributed to peace in the world today,” Infantino said. “We will work to see whether we can find something that suits everyone.” Infantino will lead a task force featuring the regional confederation presidents to explore the merits of the formats that are being strongly resisted by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. “Common sense prevailed,” Ceferin said after leaving the meeting. Ceferin arrived at the meeting in Kigali with letters of complaints from European clubs and leagues about the FIFA process. They included concerns about the increased demands on players, the lack of consultation by FIFA and, within leagues, the potential for the big clubs to get even richer. Two options for a new Club World Cup from 2021 were floated to council members. The first would see a tournament staged every four years over a maximum of 18 days in the June slot used by the Confederations Cup, which serves as the warmup event a year before the World Cup. The second proposal would keep an annual Club World Cup, but shift it from December to the July-August window used by European teams for often-lucrative pre-season friendlies in the U.S. and Asia. Infantino wants the Nations League format to involve all six confederations with eight-team finals serving as mini World Cups in every odd-numbered year.