- Expanded Club World Cup under criticism for low attendances, extreme weather and adding to player workloads
- Infantino suggests US soccer leagues introduce promotion and relegation
- CBF president confirms meeting with Infantino to host next Club World Cup
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has defended the expanded Club World Cup with Brazil putting itself forward as a possible host for the next edition of the tournament in 2029.
The expanded 32-team competition began earlier this month, and Infantino hopes it can become a globally recognised tournament that generates new revenues for the sport and widens Fifa’s influence over the game’s governance. It was reported last week that world soccer’s governing body has spent over US$50 million on promoting the Club World Cup.
However, the tournament has come under criticism, with concerns raised about whether the US$1 billion prize pot on offer will give competing teams a lucrative payday that distorts domestic competitions. In addition, global players’ union FifPro and the European Leagues have complained that the competition will put extra stress on players’ workloads and will make the sport’s calendar even more congested.
Several Club World Cup games have also featured a sizeable portion of empty seating, with attendances fluctuating significantly. For its part, Fifa claimed that 556,369 fans went to the competition’s first 16 games, which equates to an average attendance of just under 35,000 supporters. Meanwhile, clubs have voiced their unhappiness in dealing with extreme hot weather, and some games have been delayed due to thunder and lightning storms.
Speaking at Fanatics Fest over the weekend, Infantino defended the Club World Cup, and declared that players “love” the tournament, referring to comments made by Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who spoke positively about the atmosphere at the Bundesliga club’s game against Boca Juniors on 20th June.
“Maybe some criticise it a little bit, but it’s something new. It’s something special,” Infantino said. “It’s a real World Cup with the best teams and the best players.”
Infantino said that he believed that both the Club World Cup and next year’s Fifa World Cup, which will also be held in the US, would help transform the sport’s growth trajectory stateside.
“The Club World Cup, and with the World Cup next year, is to show to young Americans that, actually, if you are good and if you are talented, you don’t need to go to another sport, because through soccer, there is a path for glory and a path for money, as well,” Infantino said.
“You can become famous. You can become rich if you follow a soccer path, which today young Americans don’t see. Because they see, of course, the [National Football League] or the [National Basketball Association] or baseball or ice hockey, but we will show them here, in their country, the power of soccer.”
Infantino went on to proclaim that soccer has the potential to be the “number one sport here in America”, underlining this as a key priority for Fifa. For this to become a reality, he noted that the youth soccer model of ‘pay-to-play’ was “a problem”.
When asked about the success of Wrexham, who has enjoyed three straight promotions through the English soccer pyramid, Infantino suggested that US soccer leagues should consider introducing promotion and relegation.
“You have these surprises,” Infantino continued. “You have these fairy tales of teams. … This is something you can bring in this American culture as well, where you don’t have the concept of promotion and relegation, and there’s something interesting that I think has to be explored.”
Infantino’s remarks came on the same weekend that Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Samir Xaud confirmed he had met with the Fifa president to discuss hosting the 2029 Club World Cup. The CBF said that Fifa’s president was ‘receptive’ to the proposal.
In a statement on the CBF’s website, Xaud said: “I spoke about my goals as head of the CBF and said that we want to be closer to Fifa. I praised the event and the level of Brazilian clubs and, finally, I made the country available to host the next [Club] World Cup.
“President Gianni Infantino was very happy and said that it was totally possible. Now we’re going to work to make it happen. It’s going to be a great goal.
Four Brazilian clubs are currently competing in the ongoing Club World Cup, with Palmeiras and Botafogo this week qualifying for the knockout stages. Flamengo and Fluminense are also hoping to ensure their passage beyond the group stage in the coming days.
The US was chosen to host the 2025 Club World Cup as a test event for next year’s men’s World Cup. Other countries linked with staging the 2029 edition include Morocco and Spain, who are among the countries co-hosting the 2030 World Cup, alongside Portugal, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
- JOSH SIM
