French Football Boss, Noel Le Graët Supports Biennial World Cup Idea

President of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noel Le Graët, has said that he is not against the much-debated biennial World Cup, an idea proposed by FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger. FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, strongly back the idea.

Le Graët, who is one of the few Europeans not against the proposal, was quoted by Le Monde.

“I am very favourable to the project (biennial world cup) with regard to women,” confirms Le Graët to Le Monde. For the boys, I philosophically adhere to the project led by Mr. Infantino: there are a lot of lucrative competitions in Europe, and the competitions must be allocated more equitably between the continents, especially with Africa. I am not a dissident by nature, even though I am the only one in Europe holding this position. At UEFA, they are a lit bit of yes-men; there was no real reflection. ”

This is coming just a day before a scheduled meeting with UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, in Paris later on Thursday night.

The meeting in Paris is believed to be an opportunity for Le Graët and Ceferin to discuss his decision to tow a different line from the majority of the UEFA Members. However, Le Graët has assured that he is waiting to see the financial model developed by FIFA around the proposal before deciding if it comes to a vote.

Le Graët went further to say that: “I am waiting for FIFA to present a complete, credible and viable financial plan to make a decision. It’s very clear: if the FIFA project is not economically credible, I will say to Gianni [Infantino]: ‘Withdraw your project.’ He explains that if the FFF loses financially, ‘I will have no reason to vote for this project. It is necessary, as Gianni announced, that everyone finds their account in this new system, that there is more money, that the chains buy the rights of the matches. ”

FIFA is set to review findings at a congress on December 20 to decide if the proposal of a biennial World Cup is viable or not.