Wenger’s former captain at Arsenal Patrick Vieria, who won the World Cup as a 22-year-old with France back in 1998, is against the idea, and said holding the tournament every two years would devalue its image across the world.
Patrick Viera said: “I think it’s just because we are used to having the World Cup every four years and everything’s new, we may find it difficult to accept it because it’s a new idea. I think that we’ll lose a little bit of its importance to have the World Cup every two years. I think there’s a panel that is talking about if it’s a good idea or not, the only concern that I have on that is about the number of games that those players will have to play.”
FIFA published the results of a survey of football fans worldwide last week and found a huge contrast in opinions. Support for the proposal was strongest in Africa (76 per cent) and Asia (66 per cent), while UEFA nations England, Germany and France had only ten per cent approval.