(Madrid) Real Madrid assured Monday that it would indeed participate in the FIFA Club World Cup, after statements by its coach Carlo Ancelotti having been, according to the latter, misinterpreted.
“At no time” has Real Madrid’s participation “in the new Club World Cup, which will be organized by FIFA during the next 2024/2025 season, been called into question,” assures the club in a press release. , who has just won his fifteenth Champions League.
The club will therefore participate “as planned, in this official competition which we will approach with pride and with the greatest enthusiasm so that our millions of supporters around the world begin to dream of a new title”, he adds.
In a separate message published on the social network Il Giornale.
“The possibility of playing in such a tournament is the opportunity to continue fighting for big trophies with Real Madrid,” assures the Italian technician in this short message.
In his interview with Il Giornalepublished Monday morning, Carlo Ancelotti nevertheless seemed categorical about his refusal to participate in this new tournament, against a backdrop of criticism of the schedule imposed on the players.
“A single Real Madrid match is worth 20 million euros and FIFA wants to give us this amount for the entire Cup. Negative. Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation,” he explained. “FIFA can forget it. Footballers and clubs will not participate in this tournament,” he added.
The first edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, which will bring together 32 of the best teams in the world, is scheduled to be held from June 15 to July 13, 2025 in the United States.
But this competition has attracted criticism for several months because of the increase in the workload of players and the risks to their health.
In May, the World Association of Football Leagues and Fifpro, the global players’ union, called on the international body to review the competition calendar, under penalty of initiating legal proceedings.
They argue that the football competition calendar is now “beyond saturation”.