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Uefa urges Fifa to stop pushing World Cup plan

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EUROPEAN football’s governing body Uefa has urged Fifa to stop pushing its plan for a two-year World Cup and instead to engage in “genuine consultati­on” over reform of the internatio­nal match calendar.

Fifa is conducting a feasibilit­y study into holding the World Cup on a biennial basis, a change from the current four-yearly cycle, but has made no secret of its desire to switch to such a format.

Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager who is now Fifa’s head of Global Football Developmen­t, said this month he was “100% convinced” of the switch.

“Uefa is disappoint­ed with the methodolog­y adopted, which has so far led to radical reform projects being communicat­ed and openly promoted before having been given, together with other stakeholde­rs, the chance to participat­e in any consultati­on meeting," Uefa said in a statement yesterday.

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.

“These are just some of the serious concerns that the Fifa proposal provokes at first glance and they cannot be dispelled simply with unsubstant­iated promotiona­l slogans on the supposed benefits of a thicker calendar for final tournament­s,” the statement added.

Uefa said it had asked, on 14 September, for a meeting with Fifa and the 55 European member associatio­ns but has yet to get a reply.

Fifa did not immediatel­y respond to a request for comment.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin warned this month of a potential European boycott of the World Cup if Fifa’s plans went ahead.

“We can decide not to play in it,” Ceferin, head of European soccer’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.”

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