Arsene Wenger has said he would like to see the Premier League played between the months of March and November, as well as a revamp of the international calendar.
Wenger, who is FIFA’s Chief of Football Development, wants to arrange a meeting with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other major stakeholders to discuss his proposals.
The Frenchman says it would make more sense to play each season across one calendar year, and to play the World Cup and European Championship every two years instead of four.
Currently, of course, the majority of European leagues are played between the late summer months and April/May.
Any international tournaments – with the exception of the forthcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar – are played in the summer.
The 71-year-old managed Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight between 1995 and 1996, before joining Arsenal. In Japan, the J League began in March and ended in December in 1995.
Wenger’s vision for the future explained
Wenger told beIN SPORTS: “It’s my dream you know, it’s not a dream I share with many people at the moment but I just think I have the advantage of having worked in Japan.
“We played from March until November and it was perfect.
“You would not have anymore ‘he won the championship in season 2018-19’. No, the championship was won in 2018 or in 2019 and in 2020.
“In fact, I believe as well, we have to re-organise completely the calendar.
“In FIFA, with [Gianni] Infantino, we try to make meeting with all the stakeholders of the game to completely re-organise the calendar year, because you have to plan in the future where you may have to travel less.”
Wenger has also advocated organising “only competitions of meaning” when it comes to the international schedule.
He explained: “If you look at the teams in the World Cups, usually the average age is 27 or 28.
“Because the World Cup is every four years, there are very few chances to win it again because when they go back to the next World Cup they are 32 or 33.”
The proposals would potentially cause the removal of the Nations League from the calendar.
The competition was founded in 2018, with Portugal winning its inaugural staging.
The president of the Confederation of African Football, Patrice Motsepe, echoed similar views to Wenger in terms of international competition timing when discussing the Nations Cup.
He said the tournament should be played every two years, despite Infantino saying last year that he wanted it to be held once every four years instead.
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