European teams are finding preparations for FIFA’s new-look Club World Cup “challenging” but remain confident the tournament will be a long-term success, European Club Association chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi has said.
The 32-team event is due to be played for the first time in the United States next summer but so far no match or training venues have been confirmed and clubs who would normally go on lucrative pre-season tours have not received any guarantees around revenue.
Separately, but equally seriously, FIFA is facing legal action from domestic leagues and player unions over the tournament’s scheduling.
The ECA is working closely with FIFA on the project through a Joint Venture, and its chairman Al Khelaifi remains upbeat.
“It’s challenging but we’re confident,” he told the PA news agency at an ECA meeting in Dublin.
“ECA recognises there are challenges launching any new format or concept, but we firmly believe in the tournament.
“In time it will bring important revenues to both participating and non-participating clubs, without significantly adding to the overall calendar, and it will excite fans all across the world.”
Some of Europe’s competing clubs are understood to have privately questioned whether they should start preparing for pre-season tours next summer, with that revenue crucial to helping them comply with domestic and continental financial rules.
So far no broadcasting deals have been announced for the tournament and clubs are understood to have been given only loose projections of what they stand to earn. Clubs do have full visibility of the process around the broadcasting tenders though, with the ECA understood to be working with FIFA on a daily basis on this issue.
There has been speculation from multiple sources that FIFA could turn to Saudi Arabia for financial support or even dip into its own cash reserves in order to help get the tournament off the ground.
Other clubs are understood to still be happy to compete in what they see as a prestigious global event, even aside from the financial uncertainty.
Even clubs who are enthusiastic about it are set to face a major headache trying to balance the tournament with preparations for the 2025-26 season.
Clubs have become used to tailoring rest and fitness programmes for individual players who go deep in international tournaments, but how they will handle that when their whole squad is potentially affected is another matter entirely.
European Leagues and @FIFPRO Europe will jointly file a formal complaint to the @EU_Commission against FIFA regarding the international match calendar.
Our joint statement ⬇️https://t.co/pfmOC6tokn pic.twitter.com/d74TvUOBCW
— European Leagues (@EuropeanLeagues) July 23, 2024
That is part of the reason why domestic leagues are so concerned – there is a fear clubs will prioritise international competitions like the Club World Cup and rest players for domestic action, weakening those leagues as a product.
Unions fear players will be caught in the middle of it all and believe the calendar is so congested that players will be unable to take contractual breaks and have a proper pre-season programme, which could ultimately lead to injuries and shorten their careers.
FIFA points out that the tournament fills an existing slot in the calendar vacated by the Confederations Cup, that only a small number of players will be involved and that for most players, domestic action remains where they play the bulk of their minutes.
