a new format between calendar controversy and new economic gains

Manchester City faces Fluminense on Friday in the final of a Club World Cup doomed to disappear, in favor of a month-long summer tournament with 32 teams, promised by FIFA President Gianni Infantino from 2025.

“Making football truly global.” A barely veiled dream of Gianni Infantino since he took office as president of Fifa in 2016, the 32-team Club World Cup was officially announced on Sunday December 17 by the body. A new format which will begin in 2025 and will be played every four years. With places reserved for each confederation, including 12 for UEFA, six for Conmebol (South America), four for Caf (Africa), like the AFC (Asia) and Concacaf (North America), one only for OFC (Oceania). The last ticket will be donated to a club in the host country. Like the “real” World Cup, the competition will be played in the United States, in a full-scale test one year before its start.

“It’s the only club competition that’s been missing so far, so it’s an opportunity to fill the bottom rung.”, analysis for Franceinfo: sport Jean-Baptiste Guégan, specialist in the geopolitics of sport. Far from the current format of the Club World Cup, which takes place with eight clubs in winter and does not attract crowds, broadcasters and spectators. Also a way to sell “a new product” with more exoticism and new matches. “Gianni Infantino’s objective is to raise the level of club football, particularly in terms of infrastructure, outside Europe, so that when African, South American, North American or Asian teams meet European clubs, they don’t take big bags”continues the expert.

Reduce Europe’s influence, boost marketing

According to him, there is also a desire to create a “alternative” to the European Superleague, whose fate will be decided on Thursday by the European Court of Justice, and to set up a World Superleague which would lay the groundwork for its European annex. “The timing of Fifa’s announcement is never trivial”analyzes Jean-Baptiste Guégan, who also sees it as a way for Gianni Infantino to annoy his UEFA counterpart: “This type of global competition will in fact reduce Europe’s share in terms of participants, accelerating the de-Westernization of sport and supporting Infantino’s strategy in Saudi Arabia or Africa.” A struggle for influence from another battle: money. “The interest of Fifa is to bring together in the name of universalism and to use this spirit of ‘All together’ to be able to invite as many people as possible and make even more money.“, understands the specialist, who would not “not surprised” to see among the sponsors a Saudi candidate, to the extent that the announcement comes after the designation of the kingdom as future host of the 2034 World Cup.

The biggest clubs will benefit from another benefit: marketing. “The big clubs today are faced with a limitation in their business. They need to seek markets on other continents and such competition allows them to show their brand and therefore their partners even more. And that, that coin”, gives Jean-Baptiste Guégan, who observes that no international competition is planned for 2025 and that the calendar therefore naturally offers a place. PSG was also delighted with the announcement of this new Club World Cup, for which it is automatically qualified via the UEFA coefficient, adding to AFP that this would guarantee it “important new recipes”. “Fifa, the sponsors, the clubs, everyone has an interest in it, ultimately, summarizes Jean-Baptiste Guegan. Except the players.”

“We don’t have Christmas or summer vacation”

The players will pay a high price. According to the latest calculations from Fifpro, the international union of professional footballers, certain players could play more than 80 matches for club and national team over the entire 2024-2025 season, i.e. 10% more than currently. “We were not consultedrailed Bernardo Silva on Monday, questioned about the new format on the eve of the semi-final of the current Club World Cup between Manchester City and Urawa, in Saudi Arabia. We try to do our job, but the number of matches we have today, and even more with the new competitions, is a bit crazy because of the lack of rest. We play every three days, we don’t rest. We don’t have Christmas or summer vacation. The risk of injury then increases greatly.” A report published by Howden, a British insurance broker, at the end of 2022 showed that during the 2021-22 season, injuries had increased by 20% in the five major championships and had cost clubs a total of 610 million euros. .

“This demonstrates a lack of consideration for the mental and physical health of players, as well as a disregard for their personal and family lives”denounced the Fifpro in a press release published immediately. The union was indeed consulted by Fifa, but its requests were not met. “Players are pawns used for political purposes, that is to say the creation of new wealthlaments David Terrier, president of Fifpro Europe in the columns of Parisian. This Club World Cup is being set up because Fifa decides for political reasons to satisfy as many people as possible and bring in additional money.“The manager also notes that the dates of the competition, scheduled from June 15 to July 13 for the 2025 edition, encroach on the obligatory 28-day break between two seasons.

More matches, less football

International players will therefore have “very short vacation and will have to miss the first days of the championship, or resume too quickly”continues David Terrier who assures that the supporters will eventually understand the problems of an overloaded calendar “because they will be deprived of their best players, absent due to injury or simply not at 100%”. Which will naturally lower the quality of the show offered. “If we keep having so many games for so long, the games will eventually lose their energy and intensityestimated Bernardo Silva from his platform in the Saudi kingdom. The number of games we’ve had today makes it difficult to be in shape all the time and have the energy level to play well.”