KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is to demand a meeting with FIFA opposite number Gianni Infantino over the world football federation’s controversial pursuit of staging the World Cup every two years.

On Tuesday UEFA organised a videoconference with leaders of Europe’s national associations on the World Cup revolution at which Ceferin polled the opinions of all 55 countries.

Most were reported to have been hostile or very reserved though several wanted more precise information on what would be a revolution in the international sports calendar, given that a World Cup multiplication would directly confront the Olympic Games for media and sponsor cash.

The UEFA president then indicated that he was requesting a meeting with FIFA to uncover all such details while repeating his hostility to the idea.

The feasibility study launch was approved last May by FIFA Congress since when Infantino has insisted that the views of all the game’s stakeholders were being sought.

South American confederation CONMEBOL has echoed UEFA’s opposition while Asia and central/north America (CONCACAF) have sat firmly on the fence. Only the leadership of Africa’s CAF has come out in favour.

FIFA survey

Simultaneously FIFA has published initial results of a fans’ survey undertaken as part of the feasibility study.

FIFA said: Some 15,000 respondents were identified as expressing an interest in football and the FIFA World Cup, from a broader market research survey involving 23,000 people in 23 countries, across six confederations, commissioned via IRIS and YouGov, independent industry experts.

An expanded survey, involving over 100,000 people in more than one hundred countries, is currently underway.

This survey will be more global in scope, balances elements such as population, geographic diversity, football history and potential, and covers both the frequency of the men and women`s FIFA World Cup, the findings of which will be published in due course.

Based on initial results, the following conclusions can be drawn:

The majority of fans would like to see a more frequent men’s FIFA World Cup;

Of this majority, the preferred frequency is biennial;

There are considerable differences between the so-called traditional markets and the developing football markets; and

Younger generations in all regions are more open and interested in change than older generations.

To put these figures in context, some 1.1bn people tuned in at one stage or another to watch the World Cup Final in Russia in 2018.

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