UEFA threatens boycott as FIFA drums biennial World Cup plan

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned of a potential European boycott of the World Cup if FIFA's plans to stage the tournament every two years go ahead.

World football's governing body is carrying out a review of the international match calendar, led by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who is proposing a major tournament every year. Under the proposals the World Cup would rotate with continental tournaments such as the European Championship and be played every second year instead of every fourth.

"We can decide not to play in it," Ceferin, head of European football's governing body, told The Times newspaper. "As far as I know, the South Americans are on the same page. So good luck with a World Cup like that.

"I think it will never happen as it is so much against the basic principles of football. To play every summer a onemonth tournament, for the players it's a killer. If it's every two years it clashes with the women's World Cup, with the Olympic football tournament.

"The value is precisely because it is every four years, you wait for it, it's like the Olympic Games, it's a huge event. I don't see our federations supporting that."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who publicly seems to prioritise introducing more and bigger competitions rather than more pressing matters such as new strategies to tackle racism in the game, has already managed to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams starting in 2026.