November 24 – FIFA’s biennial World Cup revolution could cost domestic leagues and European governing body UEFA around €8 billion per season in lost TV rights and commercial revenues, according to a report commissioned by the leagues from KPMG and FTI’s Delta Partners.
The proposal to stage the World Cup every two years would drastically reshape the international match calendar and could, according the study seen by Reuters, cost the 40 biggest leagues as much as €5 billion per season in rights deals. Rights revenue would drop from €14 billion to about €9 billion.
Since the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) at Congress first mooted a feasibility study into a biennial World Cup, Zurich has heavily promoted the idea that has split the global game with UEFA, CONMEBOL, leagues and clubs opposed to more World Cups. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and a cabal of FIFA-friendly legends have promoted the plans relentlessly.
However, following the last FIFA Council, a downbeat FIFA president Gianni Infantino tempered his crusade for the biennial plans, arguing that “consensus” was needed and dumped plans for a vote on the proposal in December.
He said: “We have to see how we can approach the different opinions of different parties. We need to look at sporting and economic merits, then we can have a reasoned discussion about World Cups and perhaps other competitions. I do not know what the outcome will be.”
The new report will be presented at the World Leagues Forum’s Annual Meeting next week, said chairman of the World Leagues Forum and Liga MX Enrique Bonilla.
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