FIFA President Gianni Infantino
has proposed staging what would effectively be a mini-World Cup, featuring
eight international teams, every two years in addition to the traditional
competition.
The tournament, known as the
“Final 8”, would be the climax of a global Nations League competition.
It is part of an ambitious plan
to reform international football which FIFA believes could be worth $25 billion
in a 12-year cycle.
In a letter seen by Reuters,
Infantino suggested that the new tournament would take place every October
and/or November of every odd year starting from 2021.
He said that a “solid and
serious” group of investors were willing to spend $25 billion on the
competition and a revamped version of the Club World Cup, which would also
start in 2021 with 24 teams.
The Confederations Cup, currently
staged every four years in a year before the World Cup, would be abolished.
The letter did not clearly
indicate how many slots would be allocated to each region.
The plans were sent by Infantino
to the members of FIFA’s decision-making Council which still has to approve
them.
European soccer body UEFA and its
counterpart for North and Central America and the Caribbean, CONCACAF, have
already set up Nations League contests in their own continents.
In both cases, the competitions
involve all the national teams in their respective regions who are divided into
divisions based on their rankings.
There is promotion and relegation
between the divisions as in conventional domestic club leagues. UEFA’s
inaugural competition will begin in September this year.
Other continents would have to
set up similar competitions for the tournament to be viable.
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