Published: 19 November, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger says Fifa must consider restructuring the international football calendar as it starts the process of reforming itself. 

The sport's governing body has been engulfed in crisis since May, when a host of officials were arrested on alleged corruption charges, while long-serving president Sepp Blatter has also been suspended. 

Fifa has now pledged to become more transparent, and Wenger hopes they will also take the opportunity to implement other changes to the game. 

“It is now or never – you would like them to put it all on the table,” he told Arsenal Player. 

“The European Championship has gone from 16 to 24 teams. I bet you that because of the way the system was organised, to be elected as the new president of Fifa, the programme would be to move the World Cup from 32 to 40 teams. 

“Why? Because Africa today has five countries in the World Cup and Europe has 13 – that cannot work for much longer. 

“You cannot take countries away from Europe and if you want to be elected as Fifa president, you need the votes from the African countries, so you want to give more to Africa. So the next World Cups will be 40 teams.” 

Wenger also warned that without such changes being introduced in the near future, a split between clubs and the international game is a realistic prospect. 

Showing concern over the demands and workloads on the game’s biggest stars, the Frenchman added: “We face a situation where it’s impossible for the players to get through a season and have rest. 

“This kind of friction that it creates between the clubs, the national teams and the international competitions could soon create a split. 

“One day the clubs could move away and say, ‘Enough is enough, we pay a huge amount of money for our best players so we’ll get them together ourselves and organise our own competitions’. 

“It’s important that all of that gets put on the table while we have the opportunity to make changes.”