In 2010, Hackney-based inventor Derek Cozens walked onto the set of Dragon’s Den with an idea: to update the Highway Code and attempt to improve road safety by adding flashing lights to road signs. He told the assorted investors that he had already spent £24,000 of his own money on the project and was after £50,000 more.
Cozens’ pitch doesn’t go well. Theo Paphitis simply won’t accept that he has gained a patent for the product. Peter Jones – not unreasonably – thinks that flashing lights at the side of the road would be more of a distraction than a help. Deborah Meaden prods and probes to the point that Cozens forlornly admits that “the lady who runs the signs and signals doesn’t like the idea” before Duncan Bannatyne delivers the fatal blow: “This is the worst invention ever to be brought into Dragons’ Den”.
Which brings us neatly to Gianni Infantino and his campaign to make football a better place by doubling the number of World Cups. Infantino seemingly views himself as the self-appointed saviour of the game and, in his defence, has a handy job title to do it. It’s just a shame that the urge kicked in after Saudi Arabia had the grand idea for extra World Cups rather than, say, when it became clear the vote to host a World Cup in a state with a dubious human rights record was facing serious allegations of bribery. But you can’t have everything.
This absolutely isn’t about revenue generation and keeping incredibly rich countries with incredibly average football teams happy, you understand. Even though Fifa currently operates on a rough accounting cycle of three-year losses offset by profit in a World Cup year. The revenue from an individual tournament would presumably decrease on a biennial schedule, but the total revenue would increase.
And this absolutely is about getting more children into football, which you can tell is true because they keep repeating it like a form of amusingly unsubtle subliminal advertising message. Of all the reasons for children not watching football – exorbitant ticket prices, an unprecedented variety of choice, the game being run by men in suits who have little idea what they actually want – the true barrier is an insufficient amount of football.
It does seem a little weird that all domestic leagues, all domestic cups, all continental club competitions, all club friendlies, all regional international tournaments, all international friendlies and a World Cup every four years is not enough football, but all domestic leagues, all domestic cups, all continental club competitions, all club friendlies, all regional international tournaments, all international friendlies and a World Cup every two years is just enough. But then that’s bloody kids for you – difficult to read.
Much like Cozens and his flashing lights, Infantino and his disciples – Arsene Wenger and a number of magically on-brand “Fifa Legends” – appear to have decided that their biennial World Cup plan was a brilliant idea before actually asking the people it will affect most. A number of Uefa nations are reportedly ready to withdraw from Fifa if it becomes a reality and president Aleksander Ceferin is likely to back them.
Uefa’s response might be more to do with revenue protection – more World Cups make European Championships feel less special and more international football makes for fatigued players and a lesser product – than player welfare, but they have surely landed upon the right side of the argument.
At least poor Derek Cozens knew when to stop. OK, he didn’t exactly admit defeat after the Dragons’ crushing criticism. And there was a Twitter account (five followers) and a crowdfunding website (total not reached), but the last five years have been quiet. Infantino’s response to cynicism has been to create increasingly bizarre solutions, like a child inventing an adventure in real time to impress his friends – “and then… and then… and then”.
Infantino’s latest mooted idea is to host the tournament every two years but disallow teams from competing in consecutive editions, effectively creating a two-tier Champions League World Cup and Europa League World Cup. With the competition already expanding to 48 teams in 2026, that would mean 96 countries competing within a four-year cycle. It would also be particularly beneficial for a nation that sits just outside the top 50 in Fifa’s rankings, who would suddenly become favourites for a World Cup. Saudi Arabia are 56th, you say? Coincidences are fun.
It’s easy to assume that Fifa have lost the plot a little here, prepared to risk destroying their relationship with Uefa over a plan that very few players, managers or supporters actually want. After all, this role has form: Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter opined that women’s football could be improved by tighter shorts and, when asked for his advice to gay supporters wanting to attend the 2022 World Cup, plumped for “refrain from any sexual activities”.
But perhaps this is simply all part of the masterplan. You make a plan look so ridiculous that eventually the original idea seems less gross in comparison. You repeat your reasoning so many times that eventually some people believe it and many more stop caring. If Fifa want to do something, it generally makes sense to prepare for it happening. Look out for flashing signs on a road near you soon.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3C8iCol
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