Chung Mong-gyu, President of the Football Association, Supports 'Biennial World Cup' at FIFA Online Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] As discussions on the biennial hosting of the World Cup have intensified recently, Chung Mong-gyu, chairman of the Korea Football Association (KFA), expressed his support.

On the 2nd, the KFA announced that Chairman Chung discussed the biennial World Cup hosting and other topics at an online summit meeting attended by 204 FIFA member associations and FIFA Council members.

At the summit, Chairman Chung stated, "Changes in the match schedule, including the biennial World Cup, will help more people enjoy football and protect players," marking his first public support for holding the World Cup every two years.

The currently confirmed FIFA major tournament schedules end in 2023 for women and 2024 for men.

FIFA, led by former Arsenal manager Ars?ne Wenger's Global Football Development Team, is pushing to reduce the World Cup cycle from every four years to every two years.

At the summit, Wenger argued that making the biennial World Cup the core and significantly changing schedules of continental cups and other competitions would reduce players' travel distances and allow for more rest time.

Additionally, he proposed restructuring youth tournaments by holding an annual U-17 (under 17) tournament with 48 teams and a biennial U-20 tournament with 24 teams.

Jill Ellis, a women's football technical advisor, also advocated increasing the frequency of the Women's World Cup and women's continental tournaments.

In response, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said regarding the biennial World Cup, "FIFA will approach this from a global perspective."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.