After ardently defending the idea of a biennial World Cup, Arsène Wenger abandoned the project.
The World Cup should continue to be held every four years in the future. One of the fiercest supporters of a World Cup organized every two years has in any case backtracked. Arsene Wenger, director of development at Fifa, explained this backpedaling in the columns of The team.
“I had been asked to think about it and I thought it was not a bad idea. But such a development required a complete review of the qualifying calendar. We are not heading towards that today, rather towards four-year cycles alternating with a World Cup, the Women’s World Cup, which is becoming more and more important, the Euros and the Women’s World Cup. clubs, which will be inevitable”he confided.
Arsène Wenger is nonetheless seduced by this World Cup in Qatar and wishes to see other editions organized in winter. “If we want to democratize football, we will have to go to African countries where it is impossible to play a World Cup in the summer. We see it with this edition in Qatar: a World Cup in winter, it works, he hammered. So, of course, many selections did not have time to prepare well physically. But at least they all approached this competition with real mental freshness, which has not always been the case in the past. I remember teams that started a World Cup psychologically tired, because the preparation period had gone badly. »
