UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin gives view on World Cup every two years idea

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has publicly opposed the idea of a World Cup every two years, claiming that more tournaments would decrease the World Cup's attraction among supporters.

FIFA are currently holding a feasibility study into shortening the gap between men's and women's World Cups from four to two years after a request from the the Saudi Arabian federation back in May which was supported by 166 national associations.

This is not the first time Ceferin has expressed his opposition to the idea, he has previously admitted to having "grave concerns" at the plans in a letter to a fans' group last week.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has expressed his "grave concerns" over FIFA's proposal ( Image:

UEFA/AFP via Getty Images)

More recently, at the opening of the European Club Association (ECA) General Assembly on Monday, Ceferin said: "We think that the jewel of the World Cup has value precisely because of its rarity.

"Holding it every two years will lead to less legitimacy and dilute the World Cup itself. We think there is a space for everything and both national teams and clubs are fully occupying that physical and commercial space."

He went on, claiming that the welfare of players could be at risk with more tournaments, as he explained: "They don't need to see more of their summers spent on consuming tournaments rather than devoted to relaxing and recuperation."

This was opposed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who claimed that there was an overwhelming amount of evidence that supports the idea a change in the footballing calendar is needed.

"We have to try to find compromises," he said during an address to the assembly.

"This September window has not been ideal, by far not - let's try to find a good compromise for October for November.

"To be FIFA president, to be in FIFA, requires some flexibility, some adaptability and you have to face some challenges for which you were not prepared and I want to ask you, humbly, to consider this as well."

Ex-Arsenal boss and FIFA's head of global development Arsene Wenger has been one of the loudest proponents of the plan for twice as many World Cup tournaments, explaining the reasoning behind his stance in detail to French outlet L'Equipe.

"There must be less of a mix in the calendar between the periods of club football and periods of international football, and therefore fewer transcontinental trips for the players, for example," the Frenchman said.

Should there be a World Cup every two years? Have your say here.

Arsene Wenger is in favour of the idea of a World Cup every two years ( Image:

EMPICS Sport)

"There will be the same number of matches as before, and players will go on international duty less often. The idea is really to improve the level of play and competitions, there's no financial incentive behind it, especially as FIFA redistributes the money to all of the federations around the world to develop football in their countries.

"For the players, there will be no more matches, and there will be compulsory rest after the final stages, at least 25 days."