Arsene Wenger is not giving up, and nobody thought that he would anyway. The famous Arsenal manager, now a head of global development for FIFA, has again explained that he wants to relax the football calendar in order to make the game better. Many have seen his proposal as only a new burden for the players, as he proposes a World Cup every two, instead of four years, provoking various replies, like „Let’s make it every year than“ (Carlo Ancelotti). Tell me you want to suffocate football without saying it: A biennial World CupAlso, UEFA is not in favor of the idea, mainly due to their own interest, which is to promote European championship, but Wenger thinks that whoever sees his ideas without any prejudice will see the benefits. In an interview with BBC podcast ’The Sports Desk’, the Frenchman explained what he proposes. „The risk is to make football better, and I’m ready to take that gamble. The current schedule offers no clarity, no simplicity, no modern way to organize a season. What is absolutely detrimental to the players is repeated travelling and jet-lag. With reducing the qualifying period, I believe that the clubs will benefit, the players would benefit“ said Wenger.So, what are his proposals? Some of them are: – A biennial World Cup in even years;- Confederation tournaments (including the European Championship) in odd years;- Either one (October) or two (October and March) mid-season international breaks, for a month in total, when qualifying for major tournaments will take place, rather than the current five windows;- Guaranteed rest periods of 25 days for players once tournaments are over.”The first one is to make football better all over the world. The second one is to have a more modern way and more simple way to organise the calendar. Therefore, I want to reduce the number of qualifiers and to regroup the qualifying periods. I am convinced that the clubs gain in it because they can focus completely, they have their players available for the whole season and the national teams benefit from it as well. There’s no increase of number of games, there’s a better rest period, less travelling and more quality competition. That’s why I think this project is really defendable“ explained Wenger. (2.35) ARSENAL (3.30) TOTTENHAM (3.35)As expected, the first rejection came from Europeans governing body UEFA, who said the plans created four significant “dangers” for football, including a potential loss in prestige for the World Cup and concerns over player welfare. They also accused UEFA for the lack of consultation, but Wenger is not concerned. “I’m confident, but I do not know the forces who are for or against. I just make that proposal because I think it’s good for the game. I was a long time manager at Arsenal and I felt always that the separation between international competition and club competition was not good enough. After the proposal for the World Cup every two years sometimes there is an emotional response. I’m not surprised. Many people who were completely against it changed their mind after having seen my proposal. I consulted Uefa as well. I spoke to them, I explained my project so we have a dialogue going on. After that, how we will work with Uefa and all the federations in Europe, that’s down after to Gianni Infantino and people who are responsible for that” said Wenger.
