Former Arsenal Boss Calls For Biennial World Cup And European Championship

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes playing the World Cup and the European Championship more often would be beneficial to the sport.

“We need to get rid of the Nations League and find clearer events that everyone understands,” Wenger told Bild.

“If you ask people in the street what the Nations League is, you won’t find many able to explain it,” he continued.

The World Cup and Euros are held every four years and are perceived as the top competition in football. The next World Cup is scheduled for 2022, while the Euros this year is postponed until next summer due to the global pandemic. The UEFA Nations League started as a way for teams to have competitive matches between the two major tournaments.

“We need to have as few events as possible,” Wenger said.

“One World Cup and one European Championship every other year would probably be more appropriate for a modern world,” the three-time English champion continued.

Wenger disagreed with the notion that playing football games more often will lose their relevance, Goal reported. He shared that the prestige of these tournaments will remain the same given how big the sport is across the international scene. The 70-year-old emphasized that it’s the intensity of the matches that will define the greatness of the competition.

“I always tell people who say this that the image is not linked to the time you wait before playing again, but rather the quality of the competition,” he said.

“After all, people also watch the Champions League every year,” Wenger pointed out. “Personally, I think it would be a great step forward.”

Throughout Wenger’s career, he’s been known as a football icon as he played a role in elevating the sport across the world. Having devoted his entire life to the game, he showed how much passion he has for it.

“Sometimes I feel I’m scared for having only done football in my life,” the longest-tenured Arsenal manager told The Guardian.

Having a biennial World Cup and European Championship will promote the game even further. Wenger suggested that the qualifying matches should be played in just one month in order to simplify the process of selling rights to broadcasters.

But for now, the UEFA Nations League is still ongoing, with England, Portugal, France and Spain currently on top of League A with seven points.