Lisbon (AFP)
Portuguese football opposes FIFA's intention to increase the frequency of the FIFA World Cup from four to two years, he said in a joint statement on Friday.
Signed by the Professional Football League, the Federation (FPF), the Professional Players Union, the Coaches Association and the Referees Association, the document stresses that it "disapproves of FIFA's intention to increase the frequency of the largest national team competition in the world ".
Among the reasons given to justify this position include in particular the "overload of calendars", "the physical health of the athletes", "the impact on the mental health of the players, forced, in this format, to make two annual gatherings of several weeks ", as well as" the overlap of the Olympics and the World Cups ".
Portuguese football authorities also criticize "the overlap of men's and women's competitions in the same years, which deprives women's football of its impact".
"For all these factors (...) it is clear that we cannot be in favor of the implementation of such a measure and even less as the result of a non-existent consultation process," the statement concluded.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino promised last week that decisions would be taken by the end of the year on the World Cup overhaul proposal revived by his development director, Frenchman Arsène Wenger.
A decision already rejected by several international bodies, including UEFA and CONMEBOL.
© 2021 AFP