2.2 A biennial world cup?

Figure 7 FIFA president Gianni Infantino during the 2018 World Cup.

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A photograph of Gianni Infantino.

Figure 7 FIFA president Gianni Infantino during the 2018 World Cup.

In another example of power, globalisation and the business of football you will examine the proposal for the men’s World Cup to be held every two years instead of four.

FIFA proposed the biennial World Cup and provided several reasons why it was a positive development for world football. These reasons included:

• The opportunity to generate more revenue which could be redistributed to national associations to support the development of football in their country.
• This extra revenue would support the development of better players and enable more countries to become competitive and challenge those countries who have traditionally won major international tournaments.
• The opportunity to revamp the international football calendar making it more streamlined and efficient.

The plan attracted much criticism from the powerful European and South American football federations. Both UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America) feared it would undermine the commercial value of their own competitions such as UEFA’s Champions League and Euros. However, the proposal did gain the support from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

In the next activity you will explore why CAF were enthusiastic supporters of the proposal. It concisely illustrates the business and politics of global football.

Activity 5 Biennial World Cup: a different perspective

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Watch the following video. Using the STEEP model, that was introduced to you in Week 1, can you identify which of the five dimensions are primarily present in the argument for a biennial World Cup?

Download this video clip.Video player: Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

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Transcript: Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

CELESTINE KARONEY

Thank you for joining us on BBC Sports Africa. I am Celestine Karoney.

No African country has ever won the World Cup, but their chances could be about to double. That’s because former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, is leading a consultation on the future of football. And as part of his plans, he wants the World Cup to take place every two years instead of four.

ARSENE WENGER

That’s where the best play against the best. And that makes everybody better. Of the 211 countries in the world, 133 have never been at the World Cup.

CELESTINE KARONEY

The move is backed by football’s world governing body, FIFA. But there’s plenty of resistance, not least, from the big names in European football. And what about Africa’s own Cup of Nations? FIFA would like to see it played every four years, but that idea has already been ruled out by those at the top of the Confederation of African Football. Its former vice president is Amaju Pinnick, a big name in Nigerian football and also now a member of FIFA’s executive board. With many questions still to be answered, he’s the man Sport Africa reached out to. He’s been explaining to Piers Edwards, why he thinks a biennial World Cup is a good idea.

AMAJU PINNICK

The prestige of the tournament is not about the frequency. It’s about the quality of the tournament. The Confederations Cup is played every four years, but does it have the prestige? The Champions League is played every year. It does have huge following terms of prestige. So, it’s not about the frequency, it’s about the quality, and the following of that tournament. Why Africa, and other competition, should be made to have a say in terms of development. Because, if this is played more often, I’m just giving you a reason. The Champions League, they sell the TV rights to everywhere in the world. They rake in a minimum of several hundred million euros from Africa. Look, not a dime, in terms of solidarity, comes to anyone in Africa. But if the World Cup is played every two years. Do you know what, right now, each country receives about $1.5-- $1.25 or $1.5 million. It’s good to travel, and what does that mean? More prosperity in terms of football, in terms of infrastructure development. In terms of what we are appealing, is let them look at Africa.

PIERS EDWARDS

Not so long ago, the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, was quoted as saying ‘That it doesn't take Einstein to work out that if you have a World Cup every two years. You-- FIFA doubles its revenue every two years’. So, how much is this proposal about money, and money alone.

AMAJU PINNICK

It’s not about money. It’s about football.

PIERS EDWARDS

So, it is about money but also about football?

AMAJU PINNICK

Is not all about money. It’s all about genuine football development, especially for the less privileged countries, or continents, like Africa.

PIERS EDWARDS

How can Africa catch up, unless it gets a disproportionate amount of money from FIFA?

AMAJU PINNICK

If you give birth to a child, your first child, and it grows. Then it’s not working. And that’s what we want, because we have to start from somewhere. Even those that can tell you, that you won’t get anywhere. That is the growth that we are pitching.

PIERS EDWARDS

I know you’re very close to Gianni Infantino. And we’ve seen under his presidency, that the World Cup expands to 48 teams. And now there’s a possibility that it’s going to be a 48 team World Cup every two years. When-- where is it going to stop? Is that the limit? 48 teams every two years, or are we in danger of having a 60 team World Cup every one year?

AMAJU PINNICK

At the moment, I’m not-- we’re not thinking beyond-- beyond 48 teams. 48 teams, more football, more money, more development, more fun.

PIERS EDWARDS

Africa is beating the drum for this biennial World Cup. And we know that one of Gianni’s closest, and oldest, friends from University, Veron Mosengo-Ombo, is now the General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football. Is it any coincidence that Africa is banging the drum when somebody is so close to Gianni Infantino, who’s-- who loves this idea, is seemingly pushing it forward on behalf of him, through CAF?

AMAJU PINNICK

It doesn’t have anything to do with Veron.

PIER EDWARDS

OK. Then, as well, you know-

AMAJU PINNICK

Gianni is a super leader, that I can tell you. His sagacity is unrivaled, in terms of leadership. So I believe he is blessed, so that’s why we’re supporting.

End transcript: Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

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Biennial World Cup: why is Africa keen?

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Discussion

Three dimensions of the STEEP model are principally involved in the argument for a biennial World Cup. First, the economic dimension that a World Cup every two years will increase the revenue that all competing countries will receive. Second, a sociological dimension whereby with this additional revenue African countries can invest more into the development of their football and aim to compete more equitably with the powerful and privileged countries in Europe. There is also a third political dimension that revolves around the personal relationships between key figures in world football. It was noted that the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, is a close friend of the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). They both supported the biennial World Cup proposal.

By applying the STEEP model you can better understand the relationship between the dimensions that both support and resist the biennial World Cup proposal.

The proposal for a biennial World Cup illustrates the competing interests of different countries and different ‘blocks’ of countries. Proposals like the biennial World Cup are often presented as being in the best interests of players, fans and the wider public. Instead they are often the means for different organisations to acquire more power, more income and more control over world football. It is arguably the business and commercial interests in football that come before the sporting interest.