FIFA fury over UEFA plot

FIFA are ready to block UEFA’s proposals to launch an expanded Nations League also featuring South American countries as their battle for control of the international calendar intensifies. The 211 national federations will take part in a virtual summit hosted by FIFA today against a backdrop of bitter in-fighting, exacerbated by last week’s shock announcement that 10 South American sides are set to join a rebooted Nations League in 2024. FIFA are understood to have been blindsided by the development, which threatens to split international football in two. The Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, which governs the game in North and Central America, are particularly angry and FIFA are ready to withdraw their sanction for the Nations League, which would render it no more than a friendly tournament. FIFA view UEFA’s alliance with CONMEBOL and the creation of a new intercontinental tournament as an aggressive land-grab. Such is the anger felt by the governing body that they have likened the proposed competition to an international Super League, and are ready to respond by doubling down in their demands for a biennial World Cup.