(Football news) The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will take notes on FIFA’s plans to host the World Cup every two years. A number of International Federations (IFs) of other sports, national football federations, clubs, players, coaches have expressed strong concerns regarding the plans to host the World Cup every two years and also to generate more revenue for FIFA, mainly for the following reasons:

• Impact on other sports – If the World Cup is hosted every two years then they would clash with other major international sports. This includes tennis, cycling, golf, gymnastics, swimming, athletics, Formula 1 and many others. This would undermine the diversity and development of sports other than football.
• Gender equality – The increase in men’s World Cup events in the calendar would create challenges for the further promotion and development of women’s football.
• Players’ welfare – The increase in frequency of World Cups, would result in strain on the physical and mental health of the players.

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The IOC shares these concerns and would support the calls of stakeholders of football, International Sports Federations and major event organisers for a wider consultation that would also include the athletes’ representatives, which till now has obviously not taken place.