More Fifa World Cups? It’s what fans and China want
- Survey says majority of football fans support Fifa’s vision of playing World Cups more often
- Proposed revamp would give Chinese more chance to qualify and host tournament sooner
Who wants a Fifa World Cup every two years? You do, football fan.
That’s what Fifa would have you believe after they went to the trouble of asking fans around the world of their plans to overhaul the international calendar.
The headline is that “the majority of fans would like to see a more frequent men’s Fifa World Cup,” they say.
According to a July survey, some 15,000 respondents were asked whether they wanted to see more World Cups or maintain the current four-year cycle – and the answer was clear.
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Chinese fans and companies are playing a big part in the World Cup
Those asked “identified as expressing an interest in football and the Fifa World Cup” from a larger survey of 23,000 across 23 countries, with the survey conducted by IRIS and YouGov.
Of those who wanted more, the preference was for World Cups every two years rather than annually or every three years, while younger football fans “in all regions are more open and interested in change than older generations” and “there are considerable differences between the so-called traditional markets and the developing football markets”.