FIFA demand emergency Club World Cup summit with event and sponsorship concern
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has allegedly summoned an urgent meeting due to concerns over the lack of enthusiasm for their new Club World Cup expansion.
Football’s global governing body officials are believed to have been called in for talks with TV executives to generate interest in the revamped tournament, set to kick off next year, according to The Athletic.
The 2025 competition will feature 32 teams from around the globe, playing matches over a month in the US – the same location for the upcoming 2026 World Cup.
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Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the 12 European teams expected to participate, along with six South American teams, four each from Asia, Africa and north and central America, and one from Oceania.
However, there is limited information on the exact locations where games will be held, and FIFA is reportedly intensifying discussions to secure sponsorships and finalise key details for the tournament – following the collapse of a deal with tech giants Apple, reports the Mirror.
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The report suggests FIFA has yet to secure broadcasters, decide on venues or determine which training bases will be allocated to teams. FIFA has also not disclosed to clubs how much they can anticipate receiving for participation – after an initial £38m windfall for teams was suggested.
The football world is braced for a standoff as Man City’s Rodri warns of potential player strikes over burnout fears due to the packed schedule of the much-disputed tournament. But FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has hit back this summer, defending the organisation’s limited number of games, asserting: “FIFA is organising around one percent of the games of the top clubs in the world. When it comes to the national teams, it is very similar.”
Infantino added: “If you look at all the national team games around the world, we still have between 1 and 2 percent of the matches which are organized by FIFA. All other matches, 98 to 99 percent, are organised by other organisations, by different leagues, associations and confederations.”
Facing down the critics, he continued: “With this 1 or 2 percent matches that FIFA organises, FIFA is financing football all over the world. The revenue that we generate are not just going to few clubs in one country. The revenue that we generate are going to 211 countries. No other organization does that. I hope that these figures… probably will stop this futile debate.”
