Jurgen Klopp criticizes biennial FIFA World Cup

The German has blown up plans to host the FIFA World Cup on a biennial basis, with the Liverpool manager arguing that the player’s well-being appears to be of secondary importance to the game’s power brokers as bindings congestion continues to accumulate.

What did Jurgen Klopp say?

Jurgen Klopp’s comments come amid mounting speculation that FIFA may move to hosting its lucrative tournament show every two years instead of four, despite strong opposition from UEFA and other continental governing bodies. Former Arsenal boss Wenger, now FIFA’s head of world football, has been touting a possible transition amid a feasibility study for months now – but Jurgen Klopp is now the latest big figure to raise concerns about player health.

Jurgen Klopp, in quotes on The Guardian, before referring to a conversation he had with Arsene Wenger in August where he was offered the concept of the World Cup every other year, said that every idea is related to new games. Klopp immediately said that more games means every tournament year? No chance, this is wrong. Where is the good old, very important, preseason, where there is no tournament at all? All people who train for a big competition need preparation.

If you go to the Olympics, you go high in the mountains for many reasons, train there – and incredibly hard – and then they are well prepared for the moment they have their competition. According to Klopp, the players just play all year, then three weeks off, then two weeks of preseason and then play again. This is football. How do you improve this game if you only play constantly? This is not possible.

A little about the topic

Against the backdrop of two highly successful tournaments held in Europe – both the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the rearranged pan-continental Euro 2020 this year – FIFA suggested that there is a desire to increase the number of show tournaments. Saudi Arabia’s football governing body formally proposed the concept of the World Cup every two years in May, and the idea continued to gain traction despite fierce opposition from key figureheads in the game. UEFA President Ceferin has already expressed his concerns about the idea, while the effect of a sharp blow on an already crowded fixture list is likely to be sharp too.