Manchester City and Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has backed up the plan to hold the FIFA World Cup every two years. Arsene Wenger, former Arsenal manager and chief of global football development at FIFA, has proposed halving the duration between each edition of the FIFA World Cup.
This proposal has earned a lot of criticism from a number of parties. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has said that his players would boycott the tournament if it was held every two years.
The plan is still in the initial stages and is yet to be approved. But, it is seemingly attracting mixed reactions from footballers and officials across the world.
‘At the start of the season, I had a meeting with FIFA and Arsene Wenger to explain to us what they wanted to do,’ De Bruyne told news agency Belga.
🗣️ | Kevin De Bruyne on a World Cup every two years:
— City Chief (@City_Chief) November 12, 2021
"At the start of the season, I had a meeting with FIFA and Arsene Wenger to explain to us what they wanted to do. To do something like that, federations of all countries, UEFA and FIFA have to coordinate…"
[via @FRANCE24] pic.twitter.com/IXYoeugp9u
‘To do something like that, federations of all countries, UEFA and FIFA have to coordinate. Everyone has to work together.
‘I insisted on a second point: I told them that they had to keep a real period of rest for us, the players, at the end of the season.
‘The idea isn’t bad in itself, as long as everyone works together.’
One of the main concerns behind the idea is that players will not get enough time to rest in the off-season. And that is a point that De Bruyne also mentions in his opinion about the issue.
An online summit on December 20 which will include FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Further developments on the plans for the FIFA World Cup will be clear following the summit.
