European Leagues "firmly and unanimously" opposed to FIFA's biennial World Cup proposals

The Premier League is among a group of major European leagues that are "firmly and unanimously" against FIFA's proposals to hold the World Cup every two years.

The men's World Cup has taken place every four years since the inaugural edition in 1930, aside from 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War, while the women's World Cup has followed suit since it was first staged in 1991. 

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been campaigning to shorten the gap in his role as the governing body's chief of global football development. 

Meanwhile, the FIFA congress in May saw a vote go heavily in favour of carrying out a feasibility study into the project. 

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said the European governing body had "serious reservations and grave concerns" surrounding the concept, while Spain and Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets warned that players will "explode" should the plans come to fruition.

The Premier League, along with the other so-called "big five leagues" and several other competitions, is a member of the European Leagues group, which released a statement on Thursday saying: "The leagues have firmly and unanimously opposed any proposals to organise the FIFA World Cup every two years".

"The leagues will work together with the other stakeholders to prevent football governing bodies taking unilateral decisions that will harm domestic football, which is the foundation of our industry and of utmost importance for clubs, players and fans across Europe and the world".

"New competitions, revamped competitions or expanded competitions for club and national team football both at continental level and/or at global level are not the solutions to the current problems of our game in an already congested calendar".

"The football calendar definitely requires the agreement of all stakeholders and can only be the result of a subtle balance between club and national team football and between domestic and international club football."