FIFA and Arsene Wenger have pitched fresh World Cup plans that will see the event take place more regularly but Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti is the latest manager to take issue with the proposal
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Carlo Ancelotti has hit out at the new World Cup proposal insisting the footballing schedule is already an issue without adding more games.
FIFA are planning to play the global event every two years, rather than every four.
Those plans have been hit with a widespread backlash however with a host of club managers already lamenting the amount of games on the calendar.
Ancelotti returned to Real Madrid in the summer having left Everton to take up the post at the Bernabeu.
Expectations are high in the Spanish capital so the Italian coach will want his top players firing on all cylinders.
He sarcastically joked that they should play the World Cup annually before citing the excessive pressure placed on players.
“Play the World Cup every two years? Well, while we’re at it, let’s just play one a year,” he told Rai Radio.
“The schedules are a very serious problem. Something has to change. There are games that make little sense.
“FIFA and UEFA should talk about it. It is true that at this moment perhaps they do not agree with each other much, but the pressure on the players is too high.”
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is championing the idea.
In his new role at FIFA he is looking to further develop the game and a revamped World Cup is among his ideas.
Nevertheless he maintains he is simply pitching the idea and it will ultimately rest with football’s leading lights to make the call.
“It is only my proposal!” he told The Telegraph. “I don’t make that decision. It’s for the whole football world to decide.”
Wenger wants the whole world to benefit by his plans, explaining: “Look I grew up in a village [in Alsace, eastern France] where I had no coach until the age of 19. I have managed many people who came out of Africa and had very few opportunities.
“Personally I would say that every talent deserves a chance in life and today that is not the case.
“If you were born with the same talent but you were born in Yaounde, London or Hanoi you have not the same chance to become a great football player.”
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During last month’s international break, England boss Gareth Southgate was quizzed on FIFA’s idea and claimed it was a “strange concept” for his generation.
“I actually met with Arsene a couple of weeks ago, he was meeting a few different coaches so I have a pretty good idea of the proposals,” he said.
“I think the whole calendar needs reviewing. My feedback would be – I don’t know – that our generation are going to find a World Cup every two years a strange concept.”
