World football’s governing body want to push through a new-look calendar with a biennial World Cup but are already facing civil war with UEFA, who vehemently oppose the proposals
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Fifa president confident 2022 World Cup will have full stadiums
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has revealed there will be a global football summit in December – and warned World Cups held in a single country will be “a thing of the past”.
World football’s governing body want to push through a new-look calendar with a biennial World Cup but are already facing civil war with UEFA.
The 2022 World Cup is being held in Qatar, while it is being staged across Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026 and the bidding is due to begin for 2030.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has caused huge splits within the game by pushing for the tournament to be staged every two years and now a formal summit will be held on Monday, December 20, to discuss the future of football.
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England have been interested in a joint bid with Ireland and, even that now looks unlikely, Infantino said: “World Cups in a single country are probably a thing of the past.
“Of course we can reach an agreement. That is our main objective. It is important to listen to all legitimate questions. Up to now we have not asked anyone to agree, just presented them to start conversation.
“We need to think about how we develop the football of the future and to ensure our sport is meaningful, exciting and robust for future generations across the entire world.
“This is not necessarily the case today, and as the international match calendars are not decided beyond 2023 and 2024 for women’s and men’s football respectively, this is a crucial moment to ensure the further development of our sport across all 211 FIFA member associations.
“As mandated by the recent FIFA Congress, FIFA is considering all opinions in an inclusive and thorough consultation process.”
Despite UEFA, the Premier League and other leagues and national associations voicing their opposition, Infantino insists they can reach agreement.
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He added: “As world football’s governing body, it is FIFA’s responsibility to stimulate such a debate, and I am encouraged by the healthy exchanges that have been made to date from all sides.
“Everyone should have their voice heard, and precisely through the consultation process, I have discovered that many stakeholders have never had the opportunity to discuss this topic properly.
“This consultation process is addressing that, and we will continue with the objective of reaching a consensus with solutions that work for everyone’s benefit.
“By hosting a global summit later this year, we will now have the opportunity to present one plan and to provide feedback to all our FIFA member associations.”
Meanwhile, FIFA have also confirmed that the Club World Cup – which Chelsea are due to play in after winning the Champions League last season – will be moved from December to early next year, as revealed by Mirror Sport earlier this month .
It will be hosted in the United Arab Emirates rather than Japan as the rising number of cases in the Far East caused the switch with February the most likely month.
