By Sam Brookes
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FIFA’s newly-expanded Club World Cup is reportedly at risk of being boycotted by teams from England and Spain next year.
The governing body – headed by president Gianni Infantino – announced plans to hold a 32-team tournament in the US next summer to determine the best club side in the world, with the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea all due to take part.
However, Premier League and LaLiga chiefs have major concerns about the toll this will take on players, and have threatened to pull their teams out 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 are all on board with the boycott threat and are considering legal action, with Molango insisting FIFA are in danger of ‘killing the game’ by organising another tournament at the end of a gruelling season.
‘Football is killing its own product,’ Molango told The Sun.
Richard Masters (left) and Javier Tebas (right) have concerns over the newly-expanded Club World Cup and are reportedly threatening to boycott the tournament altogether
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has scheduled 32 teams to play in the four-week tournament
PFA boss Maheta Molango (pictured) believes FIFA are ‘killing the game’ with their new tournament, which takes place in the USA next summer, and has threatened legal action
‘Those who run the game need to listen. If they don’t, then as unions we have a responsibility to the players to take action — and the legal route is the next step.
‘The governing bodies have had every chance to meaningfully engage with us on this, but they have failed to do so. Current player workloads are unsustainable.’
Should the tournament go ahead, it will not finish until mid-July, and the PFA believe players may be forced to return to action without having the mandatory three-week break at the end of the season that is written into all professional contracts.
Masters is due to discuss the situation with Tebas and Molango at Thursday’s FifPro and PFA Player Workload Conference in London.
The Club World Cup has typically been played either in December or January in previous seasons, and has taken around a week to complete.
Pep Guardiola’s City won the latest edition in Saudi Arabia last December, but it is set to move to 32 teams and be played across four weeks from 2025.
PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi believes the new competition will be ‘bigger than the World Cup’
Man City chief Ferran Soriano disagrees, feeling fixture congestion has reached a ‘crisis’ point
The expansion has divided opinion among some of Europe’s biggest clubs, with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi hailing it as ‘bigger than the World Cup’.
But City chief Ferran Soriano feels differently, describing current fixture congestion as a ‘crisis’ that is only set to get worse once the expanded Club World Cup gets underway next year.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
