Critics swirl around FIFA the day after the announcement of the World Cup: “Don’t take into account national competitions” | foreign soccer

The world football association announced on the eve of the congress in Kigali, Rwanda that the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will feature 104 matches. The board also approved plans to expand the World Cup for clubs to 32 teams. This World Cup will be played every four years from June 2025.

“FIFA continues its mismanagement by imposing decisions in the football calendar, showing complete disregard for the interests of the national leagues and the football community in general,” La Liga said in a statement. FIFA ignores the economic damage these plans cause to the leagues. They were not asked in advance for advice on these changes.

La Liga believe that FIFA is failing to take into account the sporting and economic aspects of leagues, clubs and players by planning even more in an already overloaded schedule. The Spanish league says it will study FIFA’s decisions with other professional football leagues, united in the World Leagues Forum (WLF), and consider appropriate next steps. The WLF had already denounced the plans proposed by FIFA in December.

In 2023, FIFA has often faced strong criticism. For example, according to Amnesty International, the World Football Association showed that it was not even respecting its own human rights policy by awarding the World Cup for club teams to Saudi Arabia.

The fact that FIFA has partnered with Visit Saudi as the main sponsor of the Women’s World Cup tournament in New Zealand and Australia has also caused a lot of misunderstandings.