The FIFA Men’s World Cup is the holy grail of football and the world’s biggest tournament, which is why it takes place once every four years since it was founded almost 100 years ago. The tournament was canceled only during the Second World War. The four-year gap between each tournament gives every competing national team the chance to prepare for the massive event. Stars have been born, legends have been created, and history has been made at every event. It’s been 35 years since Diego Maradona’s hand of God goal in World Cup 1986, but every fan of the game who watched the match remembers it like it was yesterday. One can only imagine what the odds would have been on Betting Sites if online gambling existed at the time.

Fast forward to 2021, FIFA shocked the world with its new vision of the beautiful game. After several months of delegation, the FIFA president Gianni Infantino shared the researched data in favor of the idea of a biennial men’s World Cup but it has been met with strong opposition from retired and active players, coaches, European top clubs, the top leagues, and UEFA. The data showed that the biennial event would generate $4.4 billion, which is 62% more than the projected revenue if the tournament remained in its present schedule.

Infantino affirmed that acceptance of his proposal would be financially beneficial to every participating body. Arsene Wenger has been the man at the forefront of this campaign. In general, the former Arsenal manager stated that the plan is to upgrade the way the game is played by creating aids and programs for coaches and players. UEFA along with World Leagues Forum conducted their own research and it was reported that a biennial competition of such magnitude and importance would compromise other football and sporting events like the Olympics. Furthermore, a total of 6.7 million GBP could be lost in TV rights and sponsorships.

The rift the proposed idea created had forced Infantino to pull back on the plan, but there are several ongoing deliberations within the highest football governing body and with the 72nd FIFA Congress coming soon next year in Doha, it is logical to assume that this issue will be revisited soon. Meanwhile, Conmebol and UEFA have grown closer since the imploding of Gianni’s plans. They created a new tournament called the Nations League, perhaps in defiance of FIFA or a show of independence.

Recently, Kylian Mbappe joined the long list of football stars who have been very critical about the idea of the biennial FIFA World Cup. The World Cup winner told the media that the tournament would lose its relevance if it was scheduled to be played every two years. In the end, the final verdict on the future of the great game rests solely on 211 FIFA member nations regardless of the opposition’s disapproval.