“
By trying to get as much money as possible from everything, you end up killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
"While he had just held his back-to-school conference to discuss the situation of sport in France - between Tokyo's assessment, prospects for Paris 2024 or even the Pass'sport - Jean-Michel Blanquer was asked about the project of the Fifa to organize the World Cup every two years, And on the subject, the Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports was very clear, expressing his opposition: "
Sport must remain sport before it is a business.
No one denies that there is an economic dimension to sport and it is very important.
We must encourage him.
Sport is obviously a decisive economic stake for society.
But after that, there are rules of the game. You have to watch out for the goose that lays the golden eggs.
La Fontaine's fable is the best suited to this problem.
If you love football, and I'm one of them, interest drops if there is no more suspense or if too many things disrupt the logic of the sport.
"
To discover
The 2022 World Cup qualifying calendar
Qualifying rankings for the 2022 World Cup
The minister, who intends to take advantage of the French presidency at the head of the European Union during the first six months of the year 2022 to defend his position as well as possible, detailed his remarks, evoking the need to find the right balance between considerations sports and economic. "
The projects of closed leagues, which we can watch, lead to drifts that we do not want.
It is important that a small club can still win the Coupe de France, or come very far.
It is important that the average clubs succeed in advancing in competitions and why not one day reach Ligue 1. This equality, this fairness are essential.
We must not be closed to innovations, but we must keep certain values and guard against the risk of increasing the number of competitions to increase TV rights and all that goes with it.
"
The pace of increased matches can have negative effects on the sporting and moral integrity of athletes.
Roxana maracineanu
At his side, Roxana Maracineanu, the minister delegate in charge of sports, spoke of the risks run by sportsmen: “
I insist on the rarity that we must preserve of the sporting spectacle. We see that everything is becoming more and more commonplace. I believe that such a project goes against the health of athletes. The pace of increased matches can have negative effects on the sporting and moral integrity of athletes.
""
In a World Cup every four years, there is something magical that we can perhaps lose in the event of a World Cup both,
"added Jean-Michel Blanquer. “
It has to be studied and watched. The decision compass cannot be money first, although economic vitality remains important
".
It remains to be seen whether policies can have an influence on the future decision of Fifa.
Already unsuccessfully issued in the 1990s, the idea of a biennial World Cup was resuscitated in early March by Arsène Wenger, the director of development within Fifa, on the front line this week to defend this proposal.
But no one believes in the isolated initiative: at the end of May, the world body launched a “
feasibility study
” suggested by the Saudi federation, close to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
And the Italian-Swiss leader said he was open to "
everything
To reform the calendar, by posing as a single bulwark against inequalities in football.
Politically, this is Fifa's main argument: a World Cup every two years means more income redistributed in particular to African, Asian or South American federations, more dependent on this windfall than prosperous European football.
A final phase every summer from 2025-2026
According to Arsène Wenger, the idea would be to have a final phase every summer from 2025-2026, alternating World Cups and continental tournaments like the Euro and the Copa America, while regrouping the qualifications on the only month of October, or October and March. It sweeps away the risk of exhausting the internationals a little more, since they would undergo fewer long journeys and would benefit from "
25 days at least
" of rest after their summer competitions in selection. If UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin condemned this proposal in mid-June, deeming it "
impossible
" in an interview with AFP, the debate began above all this week, auguring agitated months before a "
decision
"Promise tohere "
the end of the year
By Gianni Infantino.
But even if the world body succeeds, nothing says that European clubs - where the best internationals are concentrated - will agree to do without their players for several months a year and assume an additional risk of injury.
The recent refusal of certain English clubs to send their internationals to countries deemed to be at high risk of Covid-19 illustrates the leverage they have against Fifa.
And the organization also risks seeing its requirements for making internationals available - an obligation without equivalent outside the world of sport - challenged in court.
Finally, Aleksander Ceferin threatened Thursday in the Times of a boycott of the European federations, which have won the last four Worlds since 2006: “
You can decide not to play it. As far as I know, the South Americans are on the same line, so good luck with a World Cup like this
”.
