FIFA president Gianni Infantino has curiously suggested biennial World Cups could convince African people to not cross the Mediterranean Sea "in order to maybe find a better life but, more probably, death".
World football's governing body, led by chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, has been promoting proposals for the World Cup to change its current quadrennial format.
FIFA reported to its member associations at their global summit in December that the changes would make the sport $4.4billion richer over the first four-year cycle.
According to Infantino, that figure would then climb to $6.6billion if each confederation also switched its flagship regional competition to become biennial, while FIFA claimed its members were largely in support of the plans.
UEFA has continuously opposed the proposals, while some domestic competitions – such as the Premier League – have also urged FIFA to keep things as they are.
But FIFA has been pressing ahead with feasibility studies and opinion polls, with its plan seeming to revolve around greater global participation.
However, in an address to the European Council on Wednesday, Infantino's attempts to further sell the idea took a puzzling turn, as he appeared to claim biennial World Cups could prevent refugees from fleeing to Europe from Africa.
He said: "The final topic I'd like to mention briefly is the future of football… Let me say on this topic, we'd have preferred to be engaged in a debate with the European Council, and I take this first step in discussing the future as well of course with the Council, because this topic is not [just] about whether we want a World Cup every two years.
"It's about what do we want to do for the future of football. The [European] Super League was mentioned earlier... We see that football is going to a direction where the few have everything and the vast majority have nothing.
"I understand. In Europe, the World Cup happens twice per week because the best players are playing in Europe. In Europe there's no need for additional events, but if we think about the rest of the world, and even in Europe, the vast majority of Europe that doesn't see the best players, that doesn't participate in the top competitions.
"Then we have to think about what football brings, which goes beyond the sport, because football is about what I was saying at the beginning – it's about opportunities, about hope, about national teams, the country, heart, the joy and emotion.
"You cannot say to the rest of the world, 'give us your money and if you happen to have a good player, give us the player as well, but you just watch on TV'.
"We need to include them. We need to find ways to include the entire world, to give hope to Africans so they don't have to cross the Mediterranean in order to, maybe, find 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. Maybe a World Cup every two years isn't the answer, [but] we discuss it, debate it.
"We started the process with a vote of 88 per cent of the FIFA congress, including 30 European members out of 55, to debate and see what the best way is to be more inclusive, not just to speak about saying no to discrimination, but to actually act in that direction by bringing everyone on board, trying to give opportunities and dignity to the entire world."
Martinez sends warning to Tuchel over possible Barry appointment
Roberto Martinez has told Thomas Tuchel that Anthony Barry will remain part of Portugal's coaching staff even if he swaps Chelsea for Bayern Munich.
Tuchel revealed at Saturday's unveiling as Bayern's new head coach that he is hoping to add Barry, who he worked with at Chelsea, as one of his assistants.
Highly regarded Barry has also spent the past year working alongside Martinez at international level, first with the Belgium national side and now Portugal.
And regardless of whether the 36-year-old stays at Stamford Bridge or joins Tuchel in Germany, Martinez expects him to remain as part of his own coaching set-up.
"I've been with Anthony for many years. What happens in international football has nothing to do with club football," Martinez said. "If there's a change, it'll be from club to club."
Martinez's tenure as Portugal boss got off to a positive start with a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in Thursday's opening Euro 2024 qualifying fixture.
Portugal fielded a strong line-up for that game that included Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice on the day he became the most-capped player in men's international football.
Bernardo Silva was also on the scoresheet, but he has warned his team-mates not to take next Group J opponents Luxembourg lightly, even if they are ranked 92nd in the world.
"The truth is we don't know what to expect because teams can change depending on what they see in the games we've been playing and they can adapt to our game," Silva said.
"We expect a difficult game. The last time we came here we went through a lot of difficulties. The team has improved a lot. If I'm not mistaken, they haven't lost in seven games.
"We know that the game can be difficult at times. We have to fight against that, dominate the game and create opportunities to score goals and win."
Martinez is still getting to grips with his squad, having only replaced Fernando Santos two months ago, and he suggested changes will be made against Luxembourg.
"It's very important to have fresh people," he said at his pre-match press conference. "Three days after the game with Liechtenstein, it's important that everyone is physically well.
"We've been together for three days. I've been delighted with the level of unity, ambition and commitment I've seen. The quality of the squad is exceptional.
"We're just at the beginning of the journey; we have to grow together. But it's always easier when you win. Our last win was important from that point of view."
Argentina's training facility named after Messi
Argentina have honoured Lionel Messi's World Cup heroics by naming their training facility after their talismanic captain.
Casa de Ezeiza, in Buenos Aires, houses Argentina's national team set-up, but it will now be known as Lionel Andres Messi.
Chiqui Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), confirmed the news on Saturday, tweeting: "We lived a historic day in our Casa de Ezeiza, which from today will be renamed Lionel Andres Messi, in homage to the best player in the world.
"I want to thank all the managers, players and employees of @afa for having been with us."
Messi dragged Argentina to glory in Qatar last year, emulating the success of the late Diego Maradona as La Albiceleste claimed their third world title, and first since 1986.
"This recognition is one of the nicest I've ever received," Messi posted on Instagram. "A great honour, thank you very much!!!"
Messi scored the 800th goal of his stellar career in Argentina's 2-0 friendly win over Panama on Thursday. The 35-year-old's next goal on the international stage will be his 100th for his country.
Balogun keeping all options open after starring on loan at Reims
Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun is keeping all options open with regards to his future after starring on loan at Reims.
Balogun has scored 18 goals in 29 appearances for the French side, making him the highest-scoring player aged 21 or under across Europe's top five leagues this season.
The Arsenal academy product has made just two Premier League appearances for his parent club, who already have strikers Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah on their books.
He still has two years to run on his contract at Emirates Stadium, but Balogun is unsure where he will be playing his football in the 2023-24 campaign.
"Contractually I have to go back. The loan was for one year so that was always the agreement," he told Ligue 1's website. "I'm not sure what's going to happen in the future.
"A lot could happen in football, a lot could change, and it just depends on the conversations we have between me and the club in the summer, and we'll see what happens."
Balogun has 17 goals in Ligue 1 this season and is the only player to have scored against Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Lens, Monaco and Rennes, who make up the top five.
Asked if he would be interested in staying on at Reims for another year, Balogun said: "Yeah. I mean there's no door that's closed.
"Of course I have had a good year here and to a lot of people it makes sense for me to come back here. I don't know what the future will bring.
"But I would definitely advise young players to come out here. It's a really, really tough league, a league that will help you to improve.
"You get to play in crazy atmospheres. If you're ready to take yourself out of your comfort zone, I would advise any young player, I would advise any young player to come here."
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