Biennial World Cup Soon to Be ‘Off The Table’

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin is confident that FIFA’s proposal for a biennial World Cup will be “off the table” soon.

While speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit on Thursday, Čeferin highlighted the European soccer body’s close relationship with FIFA. “With FIFA we discuss regularly, and the biennial World Cup is a no-go for everyone in football,” he said.

Čeferin said UEFA is still in discussions with FIFA president Gianni Infantino but is “sure” they’ll come to a solution soon.

• Čeferin said he could see the Copa America champions face the European champions annually.
• On March 2, FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani suggested a revamped Confederations Cup or global Nations League to have teams in different confederations play each other.

“We cannot say football on other continents cannot be developed, but we should be aligned, and it should not hurt European and South American Federations,” Čeferin continued.

FIFA’s Finances

Soccer’s governing body earned $6.4 billion between 2017 and 2020, with more than 70% coming from 2018 — the year of the last World Cup. A study commissioned by domestic leagues found that a World Cup every two years would cost UEFA and domestic leagues a total of $9 billion.

FIFA reported a 187% year-over-year revenue increase to $766.5 million in 2021.