By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin today welcomed the apparent abandonment of the idea to stage the World Cup every two years by describing the whole concept as non-sensical.
Last week, Ceferin’s opposite number at FIFA, Gianni Infantino, attempted to distance himself and his organisation from a biennial World Cup following a global backlash.
At a press conference after a UEFA executive committee meeting at which new club financial regulations were announced (see separate story), Ceferin pulled no punches when asked to comment on FIFA seemingly backtracking over a biennial World Cup.
“We are happy that it’s finally off the table,” said Ceferin who has long opposed the idea. “Formally it may not have been proposed by FIFA but it was encouraged by FIFA.
“It’s good they have listened to the football community. For me it’s very good that this project, which is more or less a nonsense, is off the table.”
Ceferin was also quizzed about UEFA’s relationship with Russia, in particular why the Russian team had not been kicked out of this coming summer’s women’s Euros in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
England, host of the Euros, has already stated it will not play against Russia but Ceferin, a trained lawyer, was anxious not to get drawn into the debate – not yet anyway – so as not to prejudge an ongoing Russian appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport over its worldwide ban from football.
“As you know there is a court case involving the Russian Football Union, clubs and national team,” said Ceferin.
“We are expecting some information as soon as possible but we know we are in a hurry to decide. We know the Euros are very soon but we need more information.”
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