FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Thursday tried to distance himself from a highly controversial project to hold the World Cup every two years as he suggested the plan had never actually been proposed by world football’s governing body.
“Let me be very clear that FIFA has not proposed a biennial World Cup,” Infantino said on the stage at the organisation’s congress in Doha on the eve of the draw for this year’s tournament.
Despite that, Infantino has pushed the project in recent months along with Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager who is now FIFA’s head of global development.
Infantino claimed at a virtual global summit to discuss the topic last December that playing the World Cup more regularly would offer enormous financial benefits for member federations.