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FIFA ignored European opposition to its plan to reorganize the Club World Cup by voting for the approval of a new 24-team tournament starting in June 2021.
The decision to abolish the current seven-team tournament, which takes place every winter but is largely ignored by European fans, and replaced by a bigger and more lucrative competition every fourth summer, would seem to place FIFA on a conflictual trajectory with the European elite.
The European Club Association (ECA), which represents 232 of the main parties on the continent, the EU's governing body, UEFA, and the global players' union, FIFPro, are unhappy with what they call a lack of consultation regarding the crowded world calendar and Gianni Infantino's financial plans for the new tournament.
Presenting himself as a "very happy man," FIFA President Infantino announced the decision after a meeting of the governing council in Miami on Friday. Infantino wants Europe to provide eight of the 24 teams, including six from South America, three from Africa, Asia and the Concacaf region and one from Oceania. It has been suggested that each club earns £ 50m to participate.
In a letter leaked on Friday, ECA's board of directors, including members of the Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid councils, announced that it would not participate in any new competition before 2024 at the earliest. The CEC could even consider suing FIFA if it ignored its 2015 agreement on the international match schedule.
Infantino admitted that there had been "differences of opinion" since he first launched the idea last year and that he had spoken of "constructive dialogue" with Europe on which he hoped to lean.
"The world will now see a real Club World Cup, where fans will see the best teams in the world compete to be crowned world champions," he added. "We hope all the top teams will participate and we have had very positive discussions with UEFA."
Infantino added that club football "is evolving at a different pace in different parts of the world" and that it is incumbent on FIFA to set up an "exciting, prestigious and inclusive competition, and we will have that with this Cup. World Club, from 2021 ".
In its letter, the CEC strongly criticized Infantino for not disclosing more details about who is funding the new contest and ignoring its concerns about the impact on players.
Infantino rejected the idea that Fifa was putting more pressure on players, saying the new Club World Cup would replace two unloved competitions: the current annual edition and the Confederations Cup.
"We are the only organization to reduce the number of tournaments and games. This will not have a neutral impact on the schedule. It will be positive, "he said. "Five games in four years. I do not think anyone can say that this is a significant additional burden. "
No place has been mentioned for the inaugural tournament, but it is planned to take the place currently reserved for the Confederations Cup in 2021.
FIFA delays its decision to expand the 2022 World Cup
FIFA postponed the final decision on the extension of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar from 32 to 48 teams until the governing body's annual conference on 5 June.
Infantino has been pushing for expansion for more than a year, but has chosen to save time. FIFA's president needs Qatar's agreement because the 16 additional teams would force him to share the event with at least one co-host. He was hoping to get his plan approved at Friday's meeting of the governing council in Miami, but chose to save time.
Qatar is currently grappling with a bitter diplomatic conflict with the other Gulf States, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – which means that the only realistic candidates for co-hosting the tournament are Kuwait and Oman.
"We all know the situation in the region, but in football we are lucky enough to only care about football," said Infantino. "So we will move on to the next step and see who could host these games, and then Congress can make the final decision."
FIFA also announced that the VAR would be used at the Women's World Cup, which will start in France on 7 June.
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