UEFA president Alexandre Ceferin has warned his FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino against going ahead with a vote on plans for the biennial World Cup, saying such a move would have “terrible consequences”.
The FIFA Council is meeting later on Wednesday and plans for a new international match calendar, including a World Cup every two years, are on the agenda.
FIFA plans to make a decision on the proposal in December and sources have indicated they may vote at a ‘global summit’ of all 211 member associations on 20 December. The decision to organize an extraordinary congress or a summit, along with a vote on the proposals, could be made at Wednesday’s council meeting but UEFA is strongly against the idea.
On Tuesday, Infantino took part in a conference call with UEFA’s 55 national federations and the proposals have received widespread criticism and rejection.
Reuters has heard recordings of the meeting in which Ceferin urged Infantino to back down from taking the issue to a vote in December.
“I am seriously asking you and FIFA not to press for a vote, as it can lead to dire consequences for football in general,” the UEFA president said.
“I don’t think it would be wise to go to a vote on a matter like this. Not just because it would have dire consequences that we would have to take, but also because stakeholders like clubs and leagues don’t have the vote and the idea is that they don’t exist. harmful,” he said.
Officials from the Italian, Romanian, German, Portuguese and other federations clarified their views to Infantino that the changes would be detrimental to the sport and also criticized the way the consultation process was handled.
The president of the Romanian Football Federation, Razvan Berlenu, reminded Infantino that his body was from one of the European federations that supported him in the election of FIFA president.
“We have trusted you to create an organization that transcends divisions and builds unity,” he said, arguing that the December vote would lead to division. Europe will face against Football Union. Said.
Portuguese Football Federation CEO Tiago Craveiro said a better idea would be for an additional World Cup with only teams that did not qualify for the previous edition.
“Do you keep (your) word that FIFA will go ahead with this project only if it does not harm anyone?” he asked Infantino.
Infantino said the idea would be looked into.
“We need to try to find a common ground. If someone is harmed we will not go ahead with a proposal… I welcome Tiago’s idea… This is something that technical people study And of course we have to look into it.”
“My role as FIFA President is to facilitate dialogue, to facilitate proposals, I am not the decision-maker, you will be the decision-maker.”
Infantino said the “door is open to making other proposals” regarding the future of the sport and competitions.
FIFA is expected to issue a statement after Wednesday’s council meeting and hold a news conference.
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