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October 23, 2021

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Biennial World Cup hinges on investment

Alex Morgan said increased investment in the women鈥檚 game must be part of any plan for a biennial World Cup.

Morgan, a star on the United States鈥 women鈥檚 national team, is part of a FIFA technical advisory group announced this week looking into a proposal to stage the World Cup every two years.

鈥淲e looked at not only the financial part of it when it comes to the World Cup, but also increasing the number of federations that have women鈥檚 teams that play year-round, not only play in qualifiers once every four years 鈥 or possibly in the future once every two years,鈥 Morgan said.

鈥淪o how do we continue to incentivize and put more money into the women鈥檚 game? That鈥檚 a huge piece of it as well. I don鈥檛 think you can have one without the other. You can鈥檛 have a biannual World Cup without addressing the financial piece.鈥

Former US coach Jill Ellis leads the group, which includes former and current players, coaches, referees and administrators.

Morgan is open to the biennial plan, but did not outright endorse it Tuesday while speaking to reporters ahead of the US team鈥檚 match against South Korea in Kansas City, Kansas.

鈥淛ust with the history of the World Cup, I think it鈥檚 really difficult to grasp the concept of changing from every four years to two years, because historically it鈥檚 just what we鈥檝e done and what we鈥檙e used to,鈥 Morgan said.

鈥淏ut I also look at the growth of the women鈥檚 game and how it could really benefit club leagues around the world. It could really benefit every federation and their players in terms of visibility, in terms of gaining more coverage for women鈥檚 soccer.鈥

FIFA revealed aspirations last month to redraft the calendar of international soccer competitions to accommodate holding the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 World Cup every two years.

The idea has been widely criticized. UEFA and CONMEBOL have threatened to boycott the tournament, and the International Olympic Committee has also come out against the plan. FIFPro, the global players鈥 union, has raised concerns as well.

Morgan said a biennial World Cup is not a done deal, and that鈥檚 why the advisory board is important.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still a lot of discussions to be had, but I think this advisory board was created to listen to the players. So if all players said, 鈥楴o this is crazy, we cannot do this, this will hurt women鈥檚 football globally in such a great way that we can鈥檛 recover from this,鈥 is FIFA going to listen? Of course,鈥 she said.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what this advisory board is formed to do 鈥 to have the consensus of the players who are actually going to be affected by this both positively and negatively. It鈥檚 not a decision taken lightly.鈥


 

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