FIFA to hold online summit with associations over biennial WC

Football's world governing body FIFA will hold a meeting with its member associations over the controversial plan to hold the World Cup every two years, reported dpa.

An online summit on the international match calendar will take place on September 30, FIFA announced on Monday.

FIFA's proposal to hold World Cups every two instead of every four years has drawn criticism in Europe with UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin threatening a boycott and the German Football Federation also unhappy.

In a letter to Ceferin, the Alliance of European Football Coaches' Associations (AEFCA) also showed its opposition to the plans.

The letter, obtained by dpa, said FIFA president Gianni Infantino was pressing ahead with the idea for purely economic reasons and that it was the latest in a series of inappropriate FIFA proposals.

New England women's coach Sarina Wiegman also came out against biennial World Cups on Monday.

"I think it's not very good for the players, for their welfare. In Europe it's very well organized, we have very good competitions, we have the Euros, then you have the Olympics, then you have the World Cup," she was quoted as saying by PA Media.

"I think when you have all these tournaments every year where are the players going to get some rest? Where are they going to recover from a very intense football year every year? Players are not robots so I don't think it's a very good idea."

Other areas of the world are keener on the plan and FIFA put out a fan poll showing support for the idea, although different statistics within the survey suggested otherwise.