Club World Cup: the answer to the threat of the Super League

According to documents published in the latest series of allegations of Football Leaks, a group of major European clubs discussed the possibility of setting up a closed competition that could replace UEFA. Champions League.

The revelations come just a week after Infantino had agreed, at a meeting of the FIFA Council in Rwanda, to delay any decision regarding his plans for the World Cup of Clubs and World League of Nations , instead creating a working group to study the proposals.

This would have been done after the UEFA delegates threatened to withdraw in protest. Infantino nevertheless hopes that his idea will prevail again.

"The Club World Cup is the answer to any dissenting temptation," said Infantino in an interview with AFP and other media in Zurich.

"She will bring much more money to clubs and solidarity (development projects)."

Infantino strives to reorganize the Club World Cup by expanding its seven clubs current at 24 and holding it every four years. Twelve of the teams would be European.

He said he had an offer of $ 25 billion over 12 years from the League of Nations from private investors, identified by Football Leaks as Japan's Softbank.

Defending his plans, the 48-year-old A player said: "These attempts to create a Super League have existed since the 1990s, and this happens every time." It's up to us, football government, to protect the entire pyramid football system, which benefits clubs and the global football community

"If the clubs organize a separatist Super League, only the clubs will benefit. If FIFA organizes the Club World Cup, it will benefit clubs and 211 football badociations. "

Infantino, who also downplayed the prospect of an extension of the World Cup to 48 teams in time for the next tournament in Qatar in 2022, responded to new allegations of Football Leaks by saying that He had not done anything "unlawfully."

Several media outlets, including the French investigative site Mediapart, have published information that Infantino, then secretary-general of the French government, has not published a report. UEFA would have "negotiated directly" an agreement with Manchester After being guilty of breaking the rules of financial fair play in 2014, City had been accused of having bypbaded the financial control panel by proposing to City a "fine of 20 million euros instead of 60." Paris Saint-Germain had then received the same treatment, said Mediapart.

"The rules of the Financial fair play allow the possibility of negotiations and agreements. And who is responsible for negotiations and discussions on settlement agreements? The administration, "said Infantino

Mediapart also accused Infantino of failing to sufficiently redistribute FIFA's reputation since the succession of Sepp Blatter to head the government governing global football in 2016.

" We came here in 2016 and we tried to change a few things. We knew from the outset that it would not be easy to try to do things in an environment very rooted in certain practices, "said the Swiss-Italian, who also claimed that his background did not please to his detractors

"Many may not like the son of Italian immigrants as President of FIFA. In addition, he brought an African lady (Fatma Samoura), a Muslim, in charge of the general secretariat. [19659002] "Of all these criticisms, nothing was even remotely about something illegal or contrary to certain regulations, which is a pretty significant difference from the past in this organization," she said. he added.

Nevertheless, the revelations of Football Leaks also shone. information on the relations between Infantino and the Swiss prosecutor Rinaldo Arnold, who will now be the subject of an investigation by the Swiss authorities

He would have invited Arnold to attend the World Cup in Russia, at the Congress of FIFA 2016 in Mexico City and the champion's league final in Milan that year.

"I think this attack is unfair, let justice take its course as they always say, I am very happy and proud to have Rinaldo as a friend," said Infantino, who added that he was "confident" to be reelected president of FIFA next year.