- Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Real Madrid will not play in the Club World Cup
- He expects other clubs to follow suit due to the lack of cash supply
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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that the Spanish giants plan to turn down an invitation to play in next year’s Club World Cup.
The competition will expand to 32 teams and will be played in the US for four weeks next summer after the 2024-2025 season.
Madrid were expected to be one of the standout clubs to take part – having won the tournament five times in the last nine years – but Ancelotti is confident his team will not play because FIFA is not offering enough money , and believes that other parties will do so. follow this example.
“FIFA forgets that the clubs and players will not participate in that tournament,” Ancelotti said in an interview with Il Giornale, quoted by Relevo.
‘A single Real Madrid match is worth €20 million and they want to give us that money for the entire competition. Negative.
Carlo Ancelotti is convinced Real Madrid will reject an invitation to play in the Club World Cup
Real Madrid has won the competition five times in the last nine years
Ancelotti believes that FIFA president Gianni Infantino (photo) does not offer enough money to clubs
‘Real Madrid, like other clubs, will reject the invitation.’
FIFA’s decision to expand the Club World Cup has been criticized in recent weeks over concerns about player welfare.
The leaders of the Premier League and LaLiga have threatened to boycott the competition and accused FIFA of ‘killing the game’ by adding more matches to the already packed football calendar.
PFA boss Maheta Molango even revealed that legal action could be taken against FIFA if they do not backtrack on their plans to expand the Club World Cup.
“Those who run the game need to listen,” he told The Sun. “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.”
Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano also believes the move to a 32-team format is part of a ‘crisis’ when it comes to fixtures, suggesting the Premier League champions may also consider whether participation is in their best interests is.
However, PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi has no plans to withdraw his side from the competition and has insisted the Club World Cup will be ‘bigger than the World Cup’.