FIFA risks plunging the world of football into a new conflict with its proposal to hold the World Cup every two years instead of four, raising the possibility of a divorce with leading clubs and the powerful European leagues.
The proposal, first floated in the 1990s, was revived in March by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, now head of football development at FIFA.
In May, FIFA President Gianni Infantino agreed, at the request of the Saudi football federation, to launch a "feasibility study" into the proposal, making it clear that he is open to reforming the international calendar.
With Wenger saying he hopes the consultation process will be completed by the end of the year, the powerful European leagues have stepped up their opposition.
FIFA's central argument is that a biennial World Cup would create more profits that could be distributed to federations in Africa, Asia and South America, who have a greater reliance on FIFA funds than the wealthy European leagues. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is fiercely opposed to the proposal and threatened those European nations and South American powerhouses like Brazil and Argentina would boycott a biennial World Cup.
"We can decide not to play in it. As far as I know, the South Americans are on the same page. So good luck with a World Cup like that," he told The Times newspaper.
"I think it will never happen as it is so much against the basic principles of football."
South American federation CONMEBOL followed that up with a strongly worded statement on Friday, saying the proposal would "distort the most important football competition on the planet".
"There is no sporting justification for shortening the period between World Cups," CONMEBOL said.
Major European clubs have opposed it as well.
