Survey finds 75 per cent of players want World Cup every four years

Seventy five per cent of players want the World Cup to remain an event played every four years, according to a new survey.

FIFA is proposing to cut the gap between its showpiece tournaments to two years as part of wider reforms of the international match calendar.

However, a survey of more than 1,000 male players covering six continents and more than 70 nationalities represents the most significant indication yet of footballers’ opposition to those proposals.

The survey, conducted by world players’ union FIFPRO and national player unions around the world in October and November last year, found 77 per cent of players in both Europe and Asia supported the status quo, dropping to 63 per cent in the Americas.