Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski are the latest football stars to speak out in opposition of FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup.
The plans, driven by former Arsenal boss and current FIFA’s current Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger, would see the World Cup take place every two years instead of the usual four.
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But, so far, those plans have been met with hostility from those within the game since the idea went public.
And Mbappe and Lewandowski have now become the latest footballers to publicly voice their opposition to the controversial revamp at the Globe Soccer Awards Ceremony.
“To play the World Cup every two years, it would make this competition normal. And that should not be the case.” Said Mbappe, who was a big part of France’s triumph at the 2018 World Cup.
“Over a season, we would have to play 60 games a year. The Euro the World Cup, the Nations League… We like to play but it is too much.
“If people want to see quality, I think we need to take a break.” Added the PSG star.
Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski took a similar stance when he was quizzed on the plans to tweak the international tournament format.
“We have a lot of games in the year, very busy weeks. If you want to give the fans something different, you need a break.
“We have to look ahead, if we want to play a World Cup every two years, the level will drop. It’s impossible for the body and mind to perform at the same level.” Hammered Lewandowski.
FIFA have insisted that their urge to transition the World Cup into a biennial event has been driven by the younger generation of football fans.
But their plans have hardly had any public backing over the past few months.
Despite the hostile reaction, Wenger insists that tweaking the current World Cup format would help “develop” the game – and has urged people to embrace the change.
“What I’m quite surprised (by) in a society which is anti-discriminatory, if you ask someone in the street whether a women’s World Cup every two years is good, they say ‘yes, fantastic, it will develop the women’s game’.” Wenger said last month on Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE Youtube channel.
“Why is it bad for men then? That shows that the reluctance is basically emotional. We have all grown up in that cycle of (a World Cup) every four years and we want to keep it as it is.
“We see the split in our polls that the younger generations are in favour, the generation over 50 is against.
“We don’t have to be scared. The modern guy who watches football is knowledgeable, he’s demanding, he tests the quality of what he watches.
“There is a demand for quality, people today are knowledgeable and informed. We have the responsibility to give them top quality.”