- The expanded Club World Cup will take place in the US next summer
- Premier League and LaLiga leaders are reportedly threatening to boycott the club
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FIFA’s newly expanded Club World Cup is reportedly at risk of being boycotted next year by teams from England and Spain.
The governing body – led by president Gianni Infantino – announced plans to hold a 32-team tournament in the US next summer to determine the best club in the world, with the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea taking part. .
However, Premier League and LaLiga leaders are deeply concerned about the toll this will take on players, and have threatened to withdraw their teams unless the revamped competition is rescheduled, as reported by The sun.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, LaLiga president Javier Tebas and PFA boss Maheta Molango all agree with the boycott threat and are considering legal action, with Molango insisting FIFA risks ‘killing the game’ by adding at the end to organize a tournament during a grueling season.
“Football is killing its own product,” Molango told The Sun.
Richard Masters (left) and Javier Tebas (right) are concerned about the newly expanded Club World Cup and are reportedly threatening to boycott the tournament
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has scheduled 32 teams for the four-week tournament in the US next summer
PFA boss Maheta Molango (pictured) believes FIFA are ‘ruining the game’ with their new tournament and has threatened legal action
“Those who run the game have to listen. If they don’t, we as unions have a responsibility to the players to take action – and the legal route is the next step.
‘The governing bodies have had every opportunity to engage with us about this in a meaningful way, but they have failed to do so. The current workload of players is unsustainable.”
If the tournament goes ahead, it will not finish until mid-July, and the PFA believes players could be forced back into action without the mandatory three-week break at the end of the season that is stated in all professional contracts.
Masters will discuss the situation with Tebas and Molango on Thursday during the FifPro and PFA Player Workload Conference in London.
The Club World Cup was typically played in December or January in previous seasons and took around a week to complete.
Pep Guardiola’s City won the last edition in Saudi Arabia last December, but will go to 32 teams from 2025 and will be played in four weeks.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi (pictured) believes the new competition will be ‘bigger than the World Cup’
Man City chief Ferran Soriano (pictured) disagrees, saying traffic congestion has reached a ‘crisis’ point
The expansion has divided opinion among some of Europe’s biggest clubs, with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi calling the tournament ‘bigger than the World Cup’.
But city chief Ferran Soriano thinks differently and describes the current crowds on the playing field as a ‘crisis’ that will only get worse once the expanded Club World Cup starts next year.