Arsene Wenger has revealed FIFA are set to begin talks this month over radical plans to completely reorganise the global football calendar.
Wenger, who is a close adviser to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, wants domestic seasons to be played from March to November and bring domestic seasons from Europe and the rest of the world into line.
The former Arsenal manager also wants the World Cup to be held every two years.
In an interview with BeIn Sports, he said: “I believe we have to re-organise completely the calendar.
“In FIFA, with Infantino, we try to make meeting with all the stakeholders of the game to completely reorganise the calendar year, because you have to plan in the future where you may have to travel less.
“It was a good opportunity [to remodel the football season] with the World Cup in November… but it’s not the case so that will not happen.
“We have a worldwide consultation starting in March.
“It’s my dream, it’s not a dream I share with many people at the moment, but I just think I have the advantage of having worked in Japan. We played from March until November and it was perfect and you would not have anymore ‘he won the Championship in season 2018-19’, no the championship was won in 2018 or 2019 and in 2020.
“I’m convinced that to harmonise the world calendar somebody has to give in and it’s Europe or the rest of the world.
“It would make things more simple. And let’s not forget that this summer break comes from the way where people were not professional, it’s over 100 years ago.”
The idea of a global calendar is something that has been discussed in other sports, with rugby considering a similar move last year to bring the northern and southern hemisphere seasons into line.
On having a World Cup every two years, Wenger said: “If you look at the teams in the World Cup, usually the average age is 27/28.
“That’s why, because the World Cup is every four years, there are very few chances to win it again because when they go back to the next World Cup they are 32/33.
“That’s why maybe we should organise the World Cup every two years. And the European Championship every two years and kick all the rest out. Organise only competitions of meaning and kick all the parallel competitions out of the game. People must understand what is at stake and only have games with meaning”.
