Arsene Wenger's proposal

Arsene Wenger wants to see the World Cup and European Championship played every two years and have Fifa "kick all the rest out"(BBC Football).

On Tuesday, Arsene Wenger stated major tournaments should be played every two years to better accommodate football’s elite talents. It makes sense, take Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for example, in the 2018 world cup they were aged 31 and 33 respectively, in the next world cup in 2022 they will be 35 and 37 respectively. We should know by now, in football longevity is a rare commodity in football meaning that arguably two of the greatest footballers of all time may have well played their last world cup in which they can perform at the highest level. If the world cup was played every two years that would mean Messi and Ronaldo would have been able to play at their peak and not past their best in 2020(during normal times).

As football fans we feel robbed that we only get to watch footballing greats once every four years. You could argue we get to witness Cristiano Ronaldo every two years because of being able to participate in the Euros, but for South American players who do not play in the premier league we only see them once in a while. Most fans in the UK are only glued to the premier league, with many not having access to la-Liga and other top tier leagues in football. The world cup is free to air in most countries and that is probably the only time most of us get to see Messi and co in action, robbing us of four valuable years to witness the magician at work.

Furthermore, most of us are really bored by the meaningless football content during the summer mentioned by Arsene Wenger including qualifiers and nations of league. Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, and all fixtures being condensed, football governing bodies need to eradicate competitions such as cup competitions, in season international qualifiers and meaningless international friendlies to make space for tournaments that we all actually love and care about. Having the Euros and the world cup every two years means we get football content every summer that is music to our ears as football lovers. Also, eradicating the least important competitions opens the door for longer football recovery for players; after all they are human and need regular holidays to avoid burnout.

Ensuring the Euros and the world cup are held every two years not only benefits the tourism industry for the respective hosts, but benefits FIFA as well. The money made from respective tournaments can be used to further invest in player development and welfare. Also generally speaking, FIFA is recognised as an important non state actor that really unites us during moments of conflict. Football is a sport for everyone, and FIFA does a great job of drumming this message home, hosting tournaments every two years means they can play a more pivotal role and carry out their duties in uniting us around the beautiful game.

Mohamed Weheliye