The biennial World Cup project will not be put back on the table at the FIFA Congress which began this morning in Doha.

Carried by Arsène Wenger, the reform proved to be very unpopular, especially among football stars.

Is it therefore a question of putting it to sleep or of abandoning it pure and simple?

Impossible to get a clear answer from the body on its determination to double the frequency of its queen competition from 2026. There is no mention of this burning issue on the agenda of the Congress bringing together the 211 federations FIFA members on Thursday at the Doha Exhibition Centre.

Fifa had given up in December to schedule a vote at its Congress in Doha, and does not even plan to discuss more broadly the overhaul of the international calendar by 2024.

Financial windfall and “good” faith arguments

This concern to temporize – if not to bury the matter – contrasts with the fanfare launch last summer of a “feasibility study” on a World Cup every two years, then presented as a path for reform among others, but which immediately aroused fierce opposition.

Fifa, however, ensures that organizing a final phase of a major tournament each summer, alternating between the World Cup and continental competitions such as the Euro and the Copa America, would benefit "all".

In December, the world body promised an additional 19 million dollars (16.8 million euros) per four-year cycle to each of its federations, thus quadrupling their "solidarity funding" from 6 to 25 million dollars over this period if its reform is successful.

Defending itself from wanting only to ignite its revenues, Fifa also insisted on the increased chances “to shine” that it wants to offer to the players, and on the reduction in the number of international truces inflicted each year on the clubs.

Politically, the organization has also posed as the only bulwark against the widening of sporting and financial inequalities on the football planet, securing the support of African and Asian federations in the face of extremely wealthy European football.

The return of the Confederations Cup?

But UEFA immediately took the lead on the front of the refusal, quickly joined by its South American counterpart (Conmebol), then by the World Leagues Forum bringing together around forty professional championships and a number of organizations.

What outcome for FIFA?

Among the other avenues under study include a return to the Confederations Cup, a mini-tournament with eight selections played between 1992 and 2019, or an expansion to American teams in the League of Nations, created in 2018 by UEFA.

But "no concrete discussion has been initiated", indicates a source with knowledge of the negotiations, especially since sports bodies have been monopolized since the end of February by the unprecedented sanctions taken against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

Sport

The World Cup every two years "will not happen because it's a bad idea", attacks Ceferin

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