Africa Backs Biennial World Cup
Written By Omolagba Oluwayemi
Not minding her biennial Nations Cup program, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has backed the proposed two-yearly World Cup agenda.
President of CAF, Dr. Patrice Motsepe said the Confederation firmly backs the proposal put forward by Saudi Arabia at last month’s Fifa Congress.
Knowing quite well that staging a biennial World Cup would double the income of Fifa according to the feasibility study of the Saudi proposal, makes from its most lucrative competition, Motsepe believes that the boost in revenue of FIFA will filter down to its member associations – CAF included – which could then use the funds to develop the sport.
Motsepe although was unable to explain how Africa would be able to accommodate both a World Cup and Nations Cup, and their qualifying campaigns, every other year.
At present, Afcon finals are played in alternative years after CAF moved the Nations Cup from even to odd years in 2013 in order to avoid staging the competition in the same year as a World Cup with one of the reasons being the poor performance of African teams at the World Cup, although none of its side have reached the quarter-finals – the furthest the continent has ever gone – since the switch.
“We will obviously have to look at the totality of our competitions,” Motsepe said when asked how biennial World Cups and Nations Cups could work.
“The World Cup taking place every two years is being looked at by Fifa and they have to go through the processes. At the right time, we will take the right decisions to position African football in the right manner.”
Africa’s top teams already face a challenging 2022 calendar as they will start the year contesting a coronavirus-delayed Nations Cup in Cameroon from January-February, ending it in November-December, at the World Cup in Qatar.
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