On Friday, the African Football Confederation (CAF) gave its unanimous support to “the decision of the FIFA congress to carry out a feasibility study” so that the World Cup is played every two years, instead of the current ones. four.
CAF is the first confederation to publicly approve the controversial project for a biennial World Cup, at the same pace as the African Nations Cup.
The governing body of African football, meeting at an extraordinary general meeting in Cairo, also voted in favor of a continental superliga of clubs, for which it did not give details about participation or about the calendar.
“The idea is to improve the quality of African football and generate income for all clubs, whether they participate or not,” said Patrice Motsepe, president of CAF.
The unanimous vote with the hand raised to support the biennial Cup project, by the presidents of the 54 national federations, takes place less than a month before an important virtual meeting called by FIFA, for December 20, with the objective of discussing the subject, which has many opponents, mainly in Europe and South America.
All national presidents raised their green cards in the presence of FIFA’s top officials, who had insisted on the idea of changing the World Cup calendar during the 13th CAF Assembly, held at its headquarters in the Egyptian capital.
FIFA plans to have a major national team competition each year for men and women, alternating between the World Cup and continental competitions.
In addition to this possible biennial World Cup, which could start in 2028, the project defended by Arsène Wenger, current director of world football development at FIFA, contemplates grouping the international qualifiers in a single window, in October, or perhaps in March and October, instead of the current distribution of multiple windows throughout the year.
CAF will host the African Cup of Nations in January, whose host country, Cameroon, is “95% ready”, guaranteed Motsepe.
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