FIFA has brilliant idea to ruin the Women’s World Cup

Ah, FIFA. The home of some of the most innovative, outside-the-box thinking in the advancement of football. Sorry did I say football, I meant in making oodles of cash.

Ya boy is back at it again, this time with FIFA appearing to be seriously considering shifting the Women’s World Cup to an every-two-years interval, according to a report on Sky Sports.

Gianni Infantino says it’s “because it has such a big and positive impact on the women’s game,” but doesn’t say that this will also dilute the importance of the tournament and shrink it in size given FIFA doesn’t have the resources to put on a true World Cup every two years. also if you want an offset year big women’s tournament, the Euros exist. Or how about you put some resources into CONMEBOL and CAF and elevate those confederations’ cup tournaments? Is FIFA going to pony up an increasing pool of prize money every two years?

No, what would happen is the Women’s World Cup would turn into a minor tournament with less coverage and less fan attention. It’s the same disrespect that had FIFA scheduling both Copa América and Gold Cup finals on the same day as the World Cup final. If you thought 2019 was bad with its short lead-in time, extremely limited merchandise, and laundry list of logistical snafus, what’s going to happen when the tournaments start rolling in faster than FIFA’s staff can handle? You think they’re going to hire more people to dedicate full time to the Women’s World Cup, or are they going to make the existing staffers who already give 120% to the WWC stretch even further?

Honestly, seeing this proposition gain traction has inspired the same disgust in me as the reviewers who saw Cats. FIFA, you could just try...respecting the women’s tournament as much as the men’s. What an idea.