FIFA president Infantino considers hosting two World Cups in 2022: Report

The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has had a detrimental impact on football across Europe, with FIFA and UEFA taking timely measures to deal with the crisis. Now, the focus has shifted to the FIFA World Cup that is slated to be played in Qatar in 2022, with president Gianni Infantino considering two such tournaments the very same year. 

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Two FIFA World Cup tournaments in 2022? FIFA president pondering solution

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had come up with the idea of playing the Club World Cup in 2021, a year before the World Cup is supposed to be played. It was earlier decided that the inaugural Club World Cup will be played in the summer of 2021, while the World Cup will be played during the winter of 2022. However, considering the fact that the Euros will be played in 2021, FIFA might have to push its plan for the inaugural Club World Cup to 2022. 

Usually, the FIFA World Cup is played in the summer after the domestic season and the UEFA competitions come to an end. However, citing the weather in Qatar, it was agreed that the global football competition will be played in winter. According to Spanish publication Marca, the rescheduling of the winter World Cup will impact other fixtures at least until 2023-24.

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Football news: Euro 2020 postponed to 2021 

The next season will, most likely, turn out to be a hectic campaign with domestic leagues and UEFA club competitions yet to draw to a close. This will then push back the regular schedule of the 2020-21 season across Europe. Moreover, amid the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA had decided to postpone Euro 2020 until next year. It will now be a tedious task to recalibrate the schedule of the domestic, European as well as the international competitions to fit in all of them next season. 

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Football news: FIFA president Infantino approves 24-team Club World Cup

Presently, the winning teams of the continental competitions participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. However, FIFA president Infantino had approved the proposal for a new-look Club World Cup that will involve 24 teams across the globe. The participating teams will collect €20 million ($22 million), while the winner will be rewarded with €100 million ($113 million) in prize money. 

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Image courtesy: Fifa.com