“Invitations have been sent to federations and confederations for consultations on 30 September at an online summit. It will be the opportunity to establish an open and constructive debate at a global level”, explained FIFA, in a statement.

Recently, through its development director, Frenchman Arsène Wenger, FIFA has reinforced its intention to move to a World Cup every two years and abandon the usual model of four years apart.

Last week, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONMEBOL came out against this idea, as did Portuguese football bodies.

A joint statement signed by the Portuguese Football Federation, the Portuguese Professional Football League, the Professional Football Players Union, the National Football Coaches Association and the Portuguese Football Referees Association stresses that it “disapproves” of the intention to “increase the frequency of the biggest competition in the world of national teams”.