The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has joined the growing opposition against FIFA’s plan of hosting the World Cup once every two years.
The world football governing body had earlier this year made the intention known, and has since started consultations into the possibility of having the showpiece biennially.
While a few stakeholders, including the Confederation of African Football (CAF), have echoed their support for the move, others have spoken against it.
The IOC is of the opinion that having the World Cup once in two years rather than once in four years, could threaten other sports and gender equality.
An IOC statement said conflicts with other events “would undermine the diversity and development” of sports, adding that more men’s events would create “challenges” for women’s football.
Ripples Nigeria had in October reported that the World League Forum (WLF), the association of professional football leagues, took same path of rejection as the European football body, UEFA.
WLF said holding the tournament biennially would “dilute the historical and traditional values” of the World Cup
