English club Manchester City and Welsh footballer Gareth Bale have openly opposed the idea of revamping the football calendar that introduces a biennial FIFA World Cup. A panel headed by Arsène Wenger, Fifa’s chief of global football development has suggested the new reforms.
As per the new reforms, every summer, either Football World Cup or European Championship/Copa America would be held, meaning that the FIFA WC that is held every four years would be played after every two years. These competitions will be held in October which would lead to the absence of club football in the month of October.
Ferran Soriano, Manchester City's chief executive officer, while speaking at a meeting of the European Club Association maintained that there was no space to accommodate an international event every year. “There is no space for anything. No room at all. The players cannot play more games, that’s for sure,” he said The Guardian.
On the other hand, Wales captain and Real Madrid striker also has problems with the biennial World Cup. Bale, who is currently playing for Wales, trying to secure a spot at the Qatar 2022 World Cup said that the World Cup becomes more "Prestigious" if held every four years. “I like the tradition of every four years – it has the prestige, like the Olympics coming around every four years, it feels that little bit more special it’s not happening too often,” Bale said to The Guardian.
Some of the top European clubs fear that they can only do so much to stop the new reforms introduced by Arsene Wenger as he seems to have the support of the majority of FIFA organisations. The changes proposed will come into effect after 2024.
Meanwhile, the move is facing opposition from fan clubs around the world.
The changes were originally introduced by the Saudi Arabian federation which was approved by 166 national football associations.