Strange. After conducting numerous feasibility studies, technical and commercial reports, and questioning the world football family, FIFA appears to have put its plans for a World Cup every two years from 2026 onwards on hold. The highly controversial issue of reshaping the international calendar is not on the agenda of the international body’s annual congress, which is being held on Thursday 31 March at the Doha Exhibition Centre. FIFA had already decided at the end of last year not to submit the project to a vote by its 211 member associations at the Doha congress. But it seemed certain that the issue would at least be discussed and debated, if not decided. Has Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, given up on a project that could weaken his power? Or has he preferred to calm things down and wait for a more favourable moment to impose his idea? At this stage of the process, logic suggests the first option.
