Rafael Nogueira
Infantino urges open mind on scheduling of World Cups
Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, told delegates in Rome that football must be flexible about when World Cups are held. The tournament has historically taken place in the northern hemisphere summer, though the 2022 edition in Qatar was staged in December to avoid extreme heat.
We have summer and winter and in the world if you want to play at the same time everywhere you can play in March or in October. In December you cannot play in one part of the world and in July you cannot play in another part. We need to consider all these elements and let’s see how we can make it better for everyone. Maybe there are ways we can optimise the calendar. We are discussing. We have to have an open mind.
The international match calendar is fixed until 2030. The next men’s World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July 2026. Hosts for 2030 are Morocco, Portugal and Spain, with matches also scheduled in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to mark 100 years since the first World Cup, which was held in and won by Uruguay. Saudi Arabia will stage the tournament in 2034.
Infantino also defended FIFA’s plan to expand the Club World Cup, after the United States staged a 32-team edition in the summer. The event ran during a major heatwave, with temperatures in New York reaching 39C in June, a point of criticism from players and unions concerned about welfare and calendar congestion.
Players’ representatives were vocal. The Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango said in July the competition was devaluing football. On the field, Chelsea beat Paris St-Germain in New York to lift the trophy.
When the Champions League was created the first revenue was 40m euros, now it is 4bn euros. If the first Club World Cup generated 2bn euros in 30 years we should generate 200bn euros. This has created revenues for the clubs. Now we work together to see how we can make it better, bigger and more impactful in collaboration with the clubs and stakeholders because it will benefit everyone. I’m biased but it was a huge success from every possible angle. We had 2.5m spectators in the stadiums. We had an average attendance of 40,000 and only the Premier League is doing better.
Infantino said global interest in the expanded event can be used to boost domestic leagues and other competitions. He urged clubs and governing bodies to keep talking about calendar options that could spread major tournaments differently across the year.