With a green houseplant in the background, Arsène Wenger spoke of nothing less than the “football of tomorrow”.

However, the joint proposal by the former top coach and also by former German national players divides the world of football to an alarming extent: the technical advisory group of the world association FIFA officially proposes that the World Cup should be held every two years.

The idea met with massive criticism in the Bundesliga.

"What I think about that? Nothing, ”said Freiburg coach Christian Streich on Thursday afternoon before Wenger held an online press conference an hour later. "If they now hold a World Cup every two years, then I don't know how it should work." Bayern Munich's sports director Hasan Salihamidzic called the controversial plan "Nonsense." I actually thought that it would come every six years. "

Wenger, however, spoke with conviction about the far-reaching reform of the international game calendar.

According to the proposal, the changes should finally take effect after the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico with 48 nations for the first time.

The tournaments of the confederations would then be held in 2027, including the European Championship.

In the so far planned EM year 2028, a World Cup will then be played again.

The move away from the four-year cycle has not yet been decided - further heated discussions are expected in the FIFA Council before the FIFA Congress can also be included.

"In tennis, the main tournaments are also played every year"

"What we are proposing is a reorganization of the confederation tournaments," said Wenger. "You give more teams the chance to qualify, but also more countries the chance to host a World Cup." The proposal would "be able to make football better". There are a number of former professionals in the technical advisory group, including the former German world champions Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann and Sami Khedira, from whom no reaction of their own was initially heard.

In May, the FIFA Congress initiated a feasibility study for the men's and women's tournaments that was suggested by Saudi Arabia. In addition to Wenger, the Brazilian Ronaldo and the Australian Tim Cahill also referred to this on Thursday. 166 of the 209 associations entitled to vote were in favor of the study in May - FIFA sees this as a mandate. "In tennis, the main tournaments are played every year - and the quality does not suffer," said Ronaldo.

In Europe, a number of organizations had opposed in the past few days - above all the European Football Union.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is disliked by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Infantino did not make a personal statement on Thursday, but the Swiss confirmed in a video on Wednesday that he would strive for clarity by the end of the year.

"More is not always better," said Ceferin, on the other hand.

UEFA hosted a conference on the future of European football on Thursday - the news from FIFA is unlikely to have caused any joy.

"It's enough to play"

The leagues in Europe (European Leagues) and worldwide (World Leagues Forum) are also against the calendar reform. A number of fan groups had also positioned themselves. “We wouldn't say per se that we are no longer participating. But we would clearly state our position in advance. I am of the opinion that it is not sensible, ”said Bayern President Herbert Hainer on Wednesday at the SpoBis congress in Düsseldorf. RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch said on Thursday: "I don't like this idea."

The reform would be accompanied by more far-reaching changes.

Wenger mentioned two options for the calendar: Either there would be only one long period of suspension for the qualifying games in October / November or two - one in October / November and one in March.

The season is currently interrupted several times in the national leagues.

The latest qualification window will be followed by two more in early October and early November by the end of the year.

“We're not going to increase the number of games,” stressed Wenger.

Streich demanded exactly that: “There are enough games.

If we then have to see how we shape it, less and less winter break.

The hunt for appointments is unbelievable. "