LONDON FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Monday rebutted criticism from other soccer leaders over his call for the World Cup finals to be staged every two years. We are living in fast and rapid times and therefore should adapt our World Cup to our times, Blatter said in an interview with Reuters television. UEFA has said it was firmly opposed to the idea, which would force the European championships to follow suit, and they were backed by their counterparts in Asia. Blatter said in the interview that at present it took 16 years for the finals to be staged in each of the four continents and the proposed plan would also be a boost for national team football.

There are enough dates available. What we need is a coordination of the calendar, Blatter said. He said with proper organization it would not mean even more games for soccer players. We want to protect our players and have less games, he said. Their should not be so many matches outside national matches. All national leagues should be of only 16-18 teams.

English hero Sir Bobby Charlton said he disapproved of the proposal but World Cup-winning captains Franz Beckenbauer and Dino Zoff and some leading current players were in favor. Blatter had said in a Swiss newspaper on Sunday that he wanted to change the World Cup to a biennial tournament. And on Monday he claimed there could be a taste of the new time as early as 2004 with a scaled down World Cup held to celebrate FIFA's centenary.

But UEFA, who have just emerged victorious in the fight for control of the club game in Europe, said they were surprised by Blatter's plan. UEFA President Lennart Johansson pointed out that 2004 was also UEFA's 50th anniversary and they were soon to announce the host for that year's European Championship. I find the idea of a World Cup in the same year unacceptable, said Johansson. The proposal to organize a World Cup every two years has not been officially submitted to the FIFA executive, and the confederations, who would be strongly affected by it, were certainly never informed or consulted, added the Swede. If Blatter's plan comes to fruition it would force the European Championship to become a biennial event and reduce it to a virtual World Cup qualifying competition.

The South American and African championships are held every two years while Asia's premier nation is effectively decided biennially by the Asian Cup and Asian Games soccer tournament. UEFA is determined to avoid the joining them and has plenty of support. A World Cup is something to look forward to, said Charlton, a leading figure in England's 2006 World Cup bid.

Waiting for it increases the value of it. A change to every two years would be very sad, I just hope it's not based on finance. Borussia Dortmund Manager Michael Meier was also against. There is no need for a change, he said. It would certainly deprive the fans of some of the fun and the excitement. Dutch FA spokesman Ger Stolk said his organization was not a big fan of the idea which it also feared would damage the European Championship. We think it would be very tough from a medical point of view.

There are already complaints about the demands on players, said Stolk. Danish Soccer Association (DBU) chairman Poul Hyldgaard told the daily Berlingske Tidende the proposal was soccer's suicide. If you burden soccer too much it will die. It would have many negative consequences, Hyldgaard said. David Will, a FIFA vice-president, said the change would present enormous problems but added that it would not be rejected out of hand.

And despite Blatter's claim that FIFA had been discussing the idea for two years, will said the first he had heard of it was in Monday's media reports. French Federation President Claude Simonet was reluctant to say much until he knew more details of the proposals. However, he did say that he thought Blatter's idea was possibly a way to fight against the increasing influence of the Champions' League. On the other side there were some powerful voices backing the idea for change, including Beckenbauer, who heads Germany's 2006 bid.

The only man to captain and then coach his country to World Cup victory, said: I think it's a good idea. Now we have to see if it can be done and how. Germany's current national coach Erich Ribbeck sounded less enthusiastic but did not reject the proposal: We have to think about it quietly before we decide anything, he said.

Italy Coach Zoff was also in favor: I like the idea. It's one we should pay some attention to, said the 1982 World Cup winning goalkeeper. The problem of finding space in the calendar? We would find space. Juventus Coach Marcelo Lippi described Blatter's proposal as interesting but said he wanted to hear more. Which events are we going to sacrifice? What's going to happen to the Olympics and the European Championship? He asked.

It would only add more congestion to a calendar which is already very intense. The debate is sure to continue and will develop further on Wednesday with FIFA due to meet International Olympic Committee representatives in Zurich. (Reuter)