LONDON, 3 Mar. (PA Media / dpa / EP) –
The president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, said Thursday that the project proposed by FIFA to hold the World Cup every two years will soon be “off the table”, because it is “impossible for everyone”, an issue that “they continue to discuss”, hinting that the two bodies would be close to reaching an agreement on this matter.
“We argue with FIFA regularly and the World Cup every two years is impossible for everyone in football. I am glad that now FIFA realizes it too. We are still arguing, I spoke to the FIFA president yesterday and we absolutely admit it, no we can say that football in other continents cannot be developed, but we must be aligned. The European and South American federations should not be harmed,” Ceferin said at the Financial Times Football Business Summit.
The head of European football insisted that, at present, holding the World Cup every two years is an issue that is “off the table” in meetings between UEFA and FIFA. “We are discussing and we want to help. We cannot say that European football is European football and we do not allow anything else,” he added.
“That was never our approach and it won’t be in the future. We are discussing, I don’t think it is correct, but I am sure we will reach a solution very soon with FIFA,” he explained.
Ceferin suggested that this solution could be to pit the winner of the European Championship against the winner of the Copa América, making it a fixed event on the international calendar. Thus, on June 1, in London, an Italy-Argentina match will be played, under the name Finalissima, and organized by UEFA and CONMEBOL.
“I think it’s a very good and interesting thing that the two confederations, the only ones that won the cups, play a game against each other. Many of our big federations and also the South American ones want to play more games against each other and it makes sense. We are trying with FIFA how we would do it and if it would be together. Probably yes, “said Ceferin.