MADRID, 17 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The income of the European associations could fall between 2,500 and 3,000 million euros in a cycle of four years, depending on whether the number of qualifying windows available is one or two, due to the biennial World Cup projected by FIFA, according to a study from the consulting firm ‘Oliver & Ohlbaum’ at the request of UEFA.
This study assesses the economic impact that a biennial World Cup and a new international match calendar would have on the federations of the old continent, both for men’s and women’s football, designed in accordance with the project presented by FIFA.
The announced goal of easing the calendar load for players collides with the doubling of the final phases, which would see each season end with a World Cup or a Confederations Championship.
These high intensity tournaments cannot be repeated every year without increasing the mental and physical exhaustion of the players, who would find themselves playing even more than one tournament per season if all qualifying matches were held in one or two blocks. long.
Increasing the number of final tournaments and reducing playoffs would make players with the busiest schedules play even more, while leaving everyone else with less on their schedule. The same would happen with their national teams. Teams that do not reach the final stages in the proposed scheme would not only play fewer games in total but also lose regular contact with their fans due to long periods of inactivity.
The study also reveals that this calendar does not meet the technical needs of national teams because it does not offer the possibility of gradually testing and introducing new players and that it can expose them to play an entire qualifying cycle without injured key players, which would have repercussions. at the same time in the leagues.
A month of activity by the national teams would leave non-international players without competition while their international teammates would play intensely, with which the clubs would bear the consequences.
CONSEQUENCES FOR WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Women’s football would not be saved, despite the announced intention to double the number of Women’s World Cups, since the main tournaments would no longer enjoy the exclusivity of the calendar and all the prominence, with the consequent guaranteed negative impact in terms of exposure. and interest from fans and the media.
Along with the end of the European Under-21 Championship, the entire youth national team championship system would have to be overhauled and probably reduced, as a result of the reduction of the windows available for team football.
As the IOC noted, the plan to double the frequency of the World Cup would have “worrisome effects” on many other sports, whose key events would face unprecedented calendar clashes and see their spaces invaded by a powerful competitor.
In this sporting context, the research carried out by Oliver & Ohlbaum projects a profoundly negative outlook for the football of European teams, should the FIFA plan be implemented.
Adding up the losses from centralized revenue – media rights from the European Men’s and Nations League qualifying rounds and Eurocup deliveries – and from individual sources such as ticket sales and sponsorships, European member associations’ revenue could fall between € 2.5 billion and € 3 billion over a four-year cycle, depending on the number of qualifying windows available, two or just one.
Echoing the clear objections voiced by European stakeholders on several occasions and the strong and motivated opposition announced by fan organizations, UEFA considers that “radical changes should only be proposed if they translate into clear and unquestionable benefits for the game. and its actors “.