Is it time for Arsene Wenger to return to the main stage?

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• There are alternatives to Fifa, but journos and those in power, dare not mention them
• Is the way international football organised really the right way forward?

By Tony Attwood

This is not a suggestion that  I have heard anyone make, but it struck me that as Mr Wenger already works for Fifa, if Fifa is going to survive its current crisis, maybe Infantino could simply resign and Arsene Wenger take over.

Arsène Wenger is FIFA’s current Chief of Global Football Development, and he has been in that role since November 2019.   This division of Fifa provides assistance and support to any member country that wants to develop football within its region, taking the country from its current position forward to one in which football plays a more important part in the way of life of people in the country.

The essence of this work ensures that the people who are developing and evolving football within a country do so from a position of knowledge and experience, ensuring in fact that mistakes made by previous countries as they have moved to make football a greater part of people’s lives are not repeated.   This includes the evolution of both men’s and women’s teams, as well as the evolution of both leagues and inclusion in the international game, so the country can compete meaningfully in Fifa events.

In short, although football is already the most popular form of sport in the world, the aim is to keep expanding it and keep it in its premier position on the world stage. 

At the same time, Mr Wenger is chair of the Fifa Technical Study Group, which analyses each Fifa tournament that takes place and looks for ways in which it might be improved in the future.

Mr Wenger’s department is also the one that considers any proposal for a rule change in football, considering the matter in detail before passing on a recommendation to Fifa as a whole.

Now the question, of course, is, would Mr Wenger want either an expanded job or a change from this current work?    We know that he divides his time between his house in London and being in Zurich, where the Fifa headquarters is situated, and an expansion of the technical study group could take him overseas more – which might not be something that he wishes to undertake.  It would of course be up to him – but we thought we might edge the possibility along if he were interested.

Obviously we don’t have a clue as to Mr Wenger’s views of his own future, and the fact is that although he looks younger, he is actually now 76 years old, which means rather than looking for another job he is most likely to be looking for retirement.  Although again, for a person who has been as active, and indeed as influential as Mr Wenger, retirement can come as a real problem.  After being so active, what does one do with one’s time?

But one way to move between full-time work and retirement is to reduce one’s workload by training up a person to take over your existing job – and what better way to do that than while there is a real live case to consider.

Mr Wenger will of course, leave the football stage at some point in the future, and of course none of us has any insight into his views of the current uproar that besets Fifa.  He might feel he wants no more to do with this malarky, or it might just be that if they do force the current chair out, Mr Wenger is invited to take over Fifa – at least on a temporary basis so he can steady the ship, and a new long-term successor can be found.

And here is just one other thought.  Uefa seems to be quite insistent that it has had enough of Fifa and wants to go its own way.  Who better to help them find that way than Mr Wenger?   He has the experience, he is widely respected, and he has the knowledge of a number of the languages involved.   If there is to be someone in charge of creating the new, independent Uefa, I can think of no one better suited to the task.

Unless of course he really is ready to put his feet up once and for all.  Although that would be a real shame.