Gianni Infantino says biennial World Cup plans ‘give hope to Africans’

FIFA president Gianni Infantino controversially suggested on Wednesday that changes to football’s calendar might make Africans less likely to migrate to Europe and risk death in the Mediterranean Sea.

The leader of football’s world governing body spoke in support of his organisation’s calendar reforms, which include plans for biennial World Cups, at the Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

He said the proposals were vital to give the football world outside of Europe hope, adding: “We need to give hope to Africans so they don’t need to cross the Mediterranean in order to find, maybe, a better life but more probably death in the sea.

“We need to give opportunities and we need to give dignity, not by giving charity but by allowing the rest of the world to participate.”