Brazil World Cup winner Roberto Carlos has endorsed plans to overhaul the international football calendar, saying the mooted changes would reduce the physical burden on players.
World football governing body FIFA will next week hold an online summit with its member associations to discuss a series of proposals, which include a push to stage the World Cup every two years.
“This idea reduces the number of trips as you would have the qualifying stages done in one month,” the former Real Madrid left-back said in a FIFA video.
“So, you would have the time to train, play well, rest and get back to your club. There are too many consecutive matches. When you add the travel and the fatigue, it’s very complex. I think that football will improve a lot once this problem gets sorted,” added Carlos, a member of the Brazil team that won the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
The existing fixture schedule for men’s football runs until the end of 2024 while the women’s calendar is due to expire in 2023.
FIFA has set up technical advisory groups to study the plans, headed by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and ex-United States women’s team boss Jill Ellis.
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and European governing body UEFA have expressed their opposition to the idea of holding a World Cup every two years. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have said they are open to the proposal.
