Governing Bodies
Frequently asked questions on Fifa’s plans for a biennial World Cup
Fifa’s proposals for the World Cup to be held every two years, rather than the traditional four-year gap, have been met with strong opposition from European soccer body Uefa and major leagues.
The following is a Q&A on the issues:
1. What is Fifa doing?
Fifa’s congress in May voted by a large majority to conduct a feasibility study into the potential of holding the World Cup every two years instead of every four years.
The proposal was formally put to the congress by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation but was backed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who said it was an “eloquent and detailed proposal”.
Some 166 national federations voted in favour of the study with 22 voting against.
The study formed part of an overall review of the international match calendar – which organises when there are windows for qualification matches and major tournaments.
However, this study quickly turned into a consultation exercise around the idea, put forward by Fifa’s head of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger, to reshape the calendar around holding two World Cups every four years.
2. What exactly is Wenger proposing?
The former Arsenal manager suggested that the current system of international breaks in domestic football, to allow for national team play, in September, October, November and March be ended.
Instead, the Frenchman is proposing one four- to five-week break in October, when all the qualifiers can be played. This would then leave domestic football uninterrupted until the end of the season.
Each season would then end with a major tournament in June. For example, in 2028, there would be a World Cup. In 2029, there would be a European Championship (and similar continental competitions around the world), then in 2030, there would be the next World Cup.
3. What is the rationale behind the proposal?
Wenger says that the status quo causes too much disruption and forces players to make too many long trips around the world for qualifiers and friendly matches. He says his system would streamline the process while still keeping the balance of 80 per cent club football and 20 per cent national team football.
He also argues that players and fans prefer meaningful games and would enjoy the chance to play in more World Cups rather than play summer friendly matches.
Wenger also wants to see a 25-day mandatory rest period after the tournament for the players.
4. What do opponents of the plan say?
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin objects to the way that Fifa has approached the process, but is also against the concept itself.
“To play every summer a one-month tournament, for the players it’s a killer. If it’s every two years it clashes with the women’s World Cup, with the Olympic football tournament,” he said.
“The value is precisely because it is every four years, you wait for it, it’s like the Olympic Games, it’s a huge event. I don’t see our federations supporting that.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has not stated a firm position on the issue but said on Wednesday: “The consequences or potential consequences are becoming clearer day by day thanks to the discussion within Fifa and in particular through the contributions of continental associations.”
The World Leagues Forum, which represents the top European and other domestic competitions, is also against the proposal.
5. What do the players think?
Fifa invited 80 former players and coaches to Doha this week to discuss the issue with Wenger and former Brazil striker Ronaldo was public in his support for the idea while ex-Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said none of those gathered were against the idea of a World Cup every two years.
Current Wales captain Gareth Bale said: “I don’t like every two years, I feel it loses that bit of history. The fact it’s over four years, and it’s a long time until the next one, makes it that bit more prestigious.”
6. What is next?
Infantino says Fifa aims to decide on the next steps by the end of this year, raising the prospect of the issue being put to a vote at Fifa’s congress in 2022, when all 211 member associations around the world would decide.
Ceferin has warned that European nations could boycott the World Cup if Infantino gets his way. The pair have a history of conflicts over the way the game is run.
Formally, Wenger will continue his consultation process but critics say he is now engaged in simply selling the proposal, having already made his position clear.
7. What are the chances of the change actually happening?
Infantino has tried to get backing for big ideas before and failed. He wanted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be co-hosted with other countries and also had plans for an expanded Club World Cup, which had to be shelved.
However, he has approached this effort with real determination and believes he can get backing from Africa, Asia and the Americas, which would be enough for a majority.
If Uefa did commit to a boycott though – a World Cup without European teams would be a non-starter.
It remains to be seen whether Infantino has enough votes and whether, in that case, Europe really would go down the path of a boycott.
-Reuters
Kirsty Coventry became the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most powerful person in sport, on Monday in a handover ceremony with her predecessor Thomas Bach.
The Zimbabwean is the first woman and African to head the body, and at 41, the youngest since Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who is credited with founding the modern-day Olympics.
Coventry accepted the Olympic key from Bach, who, like her, is an Olympic champion — he won a team fencing gold in 1976 and she earned two swimming golds in 2004 and 2008.
Stepping down after a turbulent 12-year tenure, Bach expressed his confidence that the Olympic movement was “in the best of hands” and Coventry would bring “conviction, integrity and a dynamic perspective” to the role.
Coventry, who swept to a crushing first-round victory in the election in Greece in March, leans heavily on her family.
Aside from her parents, who were present at the ceremony in Lausanne, there is her husband Tyrone Seward, who was effectively her campaign manager, and two daughters, six-year-old Ella, who Bach addresses as “princess”, and Lily, just seven months old.
“Ella saw this spider web in the garden and I pointed out how it is made, and how strong and resilient it is to bad weather and little critters,” said Coventry, who takes over officially at midnight Swiss time Monday (2200 GMT).
“But if one little bit breaks it becomes weaker. That spider web is our movement, it is complex, beautiful and strong but it only works if we remain together and united.”
‘Pure passion’
Coventry said she could not believe how her life had evolved since she first dreamt of Olympic glory in 1992.
“How lucky are we creating a platform for generations to come to reach their dreams,” she said to a packed audience in a marquee in the Olympic House garden, which comprised IOC members, including those she defeated, and dignitaries.
“It is amazing and incredible, indeed I cannot believe that from my dream in 1992 of going to an Olympic Games and winning a medal I would be standing here with you to make dreams for more young children round the world.”
Coventry, who served in the Zimbabwean government as sports and arts Minister from 2019 to this year, said the Olympic movement was much more than a “multi-sport event platform.”
“We (IOC members) are guardians of this movement, which is also about inspiring and changing lives and bringing hope,” she said.
“These things are not to be taken lightly and I will be working with each and every one of you to continue to change lives and be a beacon of hope in a divided world.
“I am really honoured to walk this journey with you.”
Bach, who during his tenure had to grapple with Russian doping and their invasions of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Covid pandemic, said he was standing down filled with “gratitude, joy and confidence” in his successor.
“With her election it sends out a powerful message, that the IOC continues to evolve,” said the 71-year-old German, who was named honorary lifetime president in Greece in March.
“It has its first female and African to hold this position, and the youngest president since Pierre de Coubertin. She represents the truly global and youthful spirit of our community.”
Bach, who choked back tears at one point during his valedictory speech, was praised to the rafters by Coventry, who was widely seen as his preferred candidate of the seven vying for his post.
After a warm embrace, she credited him with teaching her to “listen to people and to respect them,” and praised him for leading the movement with “pure passion and purpose.”
“You have kept us united through the most turbulent times.
“You left us with many legacies and hope, thank you from the bottom of my heart for leading us with passion and never wavering from our values.”
-AFP
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry took over the leadership of the International Olympic Committee from Thomas Bach in a ceremony on Monday with the 2028 Los Angeles Games already threatening to fill her in-tray to overflowing.
Coventry, who starts her eight-year spell officially on Tuesday as the most powerful sports administrator in the world, became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the Olympic ruling body in March.
Much of the discussion during campaigning focused on the IOC’s need for change in its marketing strategies with several top Olympic sponsors having left in the past 12 months.
However, with Los Angeles hit by protests against immigration raids, and relations tense between state and city officials, and the U.S. government, the 2028 Games have become the major talking point in the movement that would ordinarily be focusing on next year’s Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
Coventry has long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a leading swimmer at Auburn University in Alabama. That will prove useful ahead of LA 2028, and she has said she will seek to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Games.
Coventry will also need to find time to help secure the long-term finances of the movement. The IOC, which generates billions of dollars in revenues each year in sponsorship and broadcasting deals for the Olympics, has secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More contracts are expected for both periods.
COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Coventry is also expected to continue the IOC’s plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors at the Olympics with the organisation’s finances in a robust state and the privately-funded LA Olympics a good place to start.
Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, beating six other candidates, making history for the African continent, with the IOC having been ruled for 131 years by European or North American men.
Her background and being the first female president will be assets in a diverse IOC membership and the international makeup of Olympic stakeholders.
On Monday she was handed the golden key to the IOC by Bach, who was the organisation’s president for 12 years.
“I am really honoured I get to walk this journey with you. I cannot wait for anything that lies ahead,” Coventry said in her address to IOC members and other Olympic stakeholders.
“I know I have the best team to support me and our movement over the next eight years.”
Coventry will hold a two-day workshop this week to get feedback from members on key IOC issues.
“Working together and consistently finding ways to strengthen and keep united our movement that will ensure that we wake up daily… to continue to inspire,” she said.
A seven-time Olympic medallist, Coventry won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 Athens Games and in Beijing four years later.
“With her election, you have also sent a powerful message to the world: the IOC continues to evolve,” Bach said in his speech. “With Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic movement will be in the best of hands.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Penalties scored when a player accidentally touches the ball twice must be retaken, world soccer’s lawmaking body IFAB has said after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez had his spot kick disallowed in a Champions League last-16 match.
During a tense shootout with Real Madrid in March, Argentine forward Alvarez slipped and the VAR spotted that his left foot touched the ball slightly before he kicked it with his right.
Although Alvarez converted the penalty, the goal was chalked off and Atletico went on to lose the shootout and were eliminated from the Champions League.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said the correct decision was made under the current laws but IFAB (International Football Association Board) has said that in such cases the penalty must be retaken.
Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid – Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain – April 14, 2025 Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo
“(When) the penalty taker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet simultaneously or the ball touches their non-kicking foot or leg immediately after the kick: if the kick is successful, it is retaken,” IFAB said in a circular.
“If the kick is unsuccessful, an indirect free kick is awarded (unless the referee plays advantage when it clearly benefits the defending team). In the case of penalties (penalty shootout), the kick is recorded as missed.”
The decision to disallow Alvarez’s penalty left Atletico boss Diego Simeone livid and the club’s fans outraged.
IFAB added that if the penalty taker deliberately kicks the ball with both feet or deliberately touches it a second time, an indirect free kick is awarded or, in the case of shootouts, it is recorded as missed.
The new procedures are effective for competitions starting on or after July 1, but IFAB said it may be used in competitions that start this month.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- OBITUARY4 days ago
BREAKING: Nigerian Goalkeeping Legend Peter Rufai is dead
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Football Agent John Shittu Demands Retraction and ₦250 Million Damages from Samson Siasia Over Bribery Allegation
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Kwara United Clinch Historic First Title as President Federation Cup Final Goes to Penalties for the 18th time
- WAFCON2 days ago
Nigeria, Tunisia Set for High-Stakes WAFCON 2024 Clash in Casablanca
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Rivers Angels Crowned 2025 Female Federation Cup Champions After Penalty Shootout Thriller
- OBITUARY4 days ago
Peter Rufai looked lean when I last saw him, says mourning NFF President, Gusau
- OBITUARY4 days ago
Family issues statement on Peter Rufai
- IMMEMORIAL3 days ago
Peter Rufai’s Death Adds to Long List of July Tragedies in Nigerian Football