FIFA has proposed that the World cup traditionally held every four years be held every two years instead, after a suggestion was made by Saudi Arabia.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, director of development at world governing body FIFA, also called for the world’s biggest football competition to become a biennial event, according to a report from Sky sports.
The proposal has faced opposition from several major figures in professional football since it was suggested.
On Monday, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warned holding the World Cup every two years would “dilute” the “jewel” of world football.
“It will devalue and endanger the established competitions run by the various confederations which are just as important to match-going fans as the World Cup itself,” Ceferin said.
“The jewel of the World Cup has value precisely because of its rarity”, he had said.
English football club, Manchester city also opposed the idea with Man city’s CEO Ferran Soriano being openly against it.
Soriano said at a meeting of European Club Association that “there is no space for anything. No room at all. The players cannot play more games, that’s for sure.”
Wales captain Gareth Bale said he was not in favour of a FIFA proposal to hold the World Cup every two years.
Supporters groups from across the globe also said they were against the proposed plan to hold a World Cup every two years.
“The overwhelming majority of fans oppose a biennial World Cup cycle, and if FIFA had bothered to engage with us on the subject, they would have known this to be the case,” 58 national fan organizations across the six football confederations said in a joint statement.
“We, therefore, call on FIFA and supportive national football associations to abandon their proposals to impose a biennial World Cup and include fans’ voices in any decisions that affect the future of the game that we fund and make a global spectacle,” the fan groups said.
The controversial proposal has been backed though by the African Football Confederation and several countries in Asia, while the South American Football Confederation asked FIFA to stage its flagship event every two years as far back as 2018.
This is not the first time that FIFA has suggested changes to how and when the sport is traditionally played.
Arsene Wenger will be meeting former players and coaches in Doha, Qatar to talk about his plans for the future of football.