$26m carrot for backers of biennial World Cup plan

LAUSANNE • Fifa on Monday vowed to hand over an extra US$19 million (S$25.9 million) every four years to each of its 211 member federations if it succeeds in its attempts to hold the World Cup as a biennial event.

The world football governing body held a virtual global summit to discuss the highly controversial plans to stage the World Cup every two years instead of the current four-year cycle, as part of a new international match calendar for the period beyond 2024.

Its economic arguments had not previously been explicitly stated, but Fifa hopes the numbers can at least persuade smaller nations to get behind the plans.

The additional US$19 million may be small change to the Brazilian or French federations but would be enormous for the likes of Andorra or Guam.

There was no vote on the subject on Monday but things could change by the next Fifa congress on March 31.

If the World Cup is held every two years, an independent report by market research firm Nielsen estimated approximately US$4.4 billion of additional revenues would be generated over four years.

The report also suggested that income from gate receipts, media rights and sponsorship for a 48-team tournament - as the World Cup is set to become from 2026 - could increase from US$7 billion to US$11.4 billion, a rise of more than 60 per cent.

By creating a "solidarity fund" of some US$3.5 billion in the first four years of the reformed calendar, Fifa estimates it could allocate "around US$16 million" to every federation over that period, it said.

In addition to that, Fifa also plans to increase funding via its Fifa Forward Programme by US$3 million from the current US$6 million to US$9 million.

A report commissioned by Uefa, Europe's governing body, recently estimated a shortfall of between US$2.5-3 billion over four years for European federations if Fifa adopts its controversial plan.

Meanwhile, the World Leagues Forum, which represents 42 member leagues across the globe, estimated that domestic competitions stood to lose a combined $8.5 billion if Fifa gets its way.

According to an independent report by Open Economics, shared by Fifa, "historical revenue trends of the most relevant clubs and national teams... show no apparent rivalry between the two".

However, that report did not advance any figures.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: "We have just finished a feasibility study of over 700 pages. It is very thorough, so maybe some will change their minds.

"There is a lot of opposition and there is as well a lot of voices in favour and Fifa is a global organising body, so we need to really try to combine all these different points of view."

Insisting "the prestige of a competition like the World Cup will not be undermined by it becoming more frequent", the Swiss-Italian added: "Everyone agrees that the current situation is not satisfactory, everyone sees the gap is getting bigger and bigger between a few who have it all, and others who have nothing."

Uefa and Conmebol, the South American body, have opposed the idea but Africa, Asia and Concacaf - who represent North and Central America as well as Caribbean nations - are said to be in favour.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS