It was such a joy to watch the Olympic games! I seem to have forgotten how great the Olympic spirit is for all the disciplines presented, that is: for all the disciplines except men’s football (the one where you play the ball with your foot, a.k.a. soccer).
I know why FIFA doesn’t want a competitor for a worldwide tournament with all the best athletes, but isn’t this just a monetary issue that could be solved? Wouldn’t the World Cup always be higher regarded, since it’s a single-discipline-event stretching a whole month?
What would substract from it if we have a smaller tournament in the year of the Summer Olympics, and move the continental cups like the Euros to the odd years 2029, 2033…? I would love to see world’s best footballers to be amongst other athletes and enjoy the spirit that an Olympic host city (like Paris!) can offer.
If you ask the athletes, they would surely love to. If you ask the fans, they would enjoy it as well, the only possible criticism being a little bit of a trophy inflation within that 4 years time span. But that’s still so much better than all of FIFA’s own inflationary ideas like Nation League, Club World Cup etc…!
Players would surely love it? What the majority of players, managers & clubs have advocated for in these last years is a less tightly packed football calender, not yet another event for them.
Football is just so profitable to host that every organisation is looking to expand their events: UEFA expanding CL, FIFA expanding the World Cup & massively revamping the Club World Cup, which now will already be a big summer tournament in those odd years you mention