Man City are the current holders of the Club World Cup
The USA will host the Club World Cup, which has been expanded. FIFA’s competition has raised player demands, with some prominent figures opposing the move.
Top leagues and celebrities in football have banded together to criticize FIFA’s redesigned Club World Cup, threatening to boycott it out of concern for player safety.
Leading the charge against this threat are Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, Maheta Molango, the PFA, and Premier League chief Richard Masters. Concerns about player welfare have previously been downplayed by FIFA officials.
Those opposed to it have threatened to take legal action if the 32-team tournament, which has been redesigned to include Manchester City and Chelsea, is not rescheduled. In addition, Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid and Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich are scheduled to compete in the four-week competition, which is taking place in the USA and boasts a prize fund exceeding £600 million.
Heading the World League Association, which encompasses all of the major football leagues, is Masters. According to The Sun, he will talk with Tebas and Molango at the FifPro and PFA Player Workload Conference in London.
PSG is thrilled about the tournament, but City, the current champion, doesn’t seem to share their enthusiasm. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, their chairman, is savoring the spectacle: “Listen, the FIFA World Cup is an incredible competition.
“While I’m proud of my players for representing their countries, the Club World Cup promises to be something greater and different because it will unite the fan bases of 32 clubs from around the globe. I can’t wait to do it.”
Ferran Soriano, the head of Etihad, has emphasized the need of prioritizing players in the meantime. “It’s priorities, just like everything in life,” he stated.
“The players’ health must be our first priority when determining what matters most. We cannot continue as we are now in a vicious cycle where everyone is defending their own company.
“Do they want to see an improved Champions League, Club World Cup, or Nations League?” he continued. We are currently far from having a system that pleases our supporters without endangering our players.”
Nasser Al-Khelaifi is in favour of the tournament’s new look ( Image: AFP via Getty Images)
According to Molango: “The calendar can occasionally seem like a far-off conversation. The UEFA Champions League final is on May 31, the Nations League is from June 4 to June 10, followed by a trip to the USA from June 14 to July 13, the AFCON, and the league’s launch on August 17. How do you manage that, I have no idea?”
“The difference between a World Cup of clubs and a World Cup of national teams,” he went on. There are a few players on the national team, and you manage them when they return. Everyone goes when it’s Club World Cup.
“So everyone at [Man] City will be busy until, most likely, until July and within a month they play in the Premier League.”
