The Club World Club

[Timbucktoo]

The Champions League has wrecked most leagues in Europe, with the same teams in each league qualifying every year for europe, and mostly winning their league, as a result of the Champions League prize money. That's why if you look at those leagues its the same teams winning every time (Celtic, Porto, APOEL, BATE Borisov, F91 Dudelange, etc. etc. etc.)

Now this will do the same on a worldwide level. Auckland City are going to get 2.5m for just turning up, they're semi-professional side - so they'll no doubt use that money to win their league from now on, and qualify again in the future, getting them another 2.5m...

Even in this country (and europe more widely), we'll see the likes of Chelsea and Chelsea getting near enough 100m, which allows them to bypass FFP - and keeps them at the top (even worse when it's expanded to 48 teams for the next one).

Chelsea sending two teams to this? We thought selling hotels and their own ladies team was smart.

I think the problem is n`t just the same teams getting CL or Europa places each season, its too many teams scrapping over one European spot behind them. In the PL we`ve seen the sly 6 dominate the European spots for years and a couple of teams behind them trying to get the 7th European spot. Then the following season that 7th team try to expand their squad to cope with the extra games, start to drop in for in the new year, and miss out on Europe next season and leave them with a bigger squad than ideal and not have the games to earn extra revenue to pay those extra players. Having an extra couple of places in Europe would help those teams earn the extra revenue to add the numbers to their squads to cope with the extra games and close the gap on the usual suspects at the top of the table.

 

[NathDogg]

Hope the physical attendances and tv viewing figures are total crap.

Even then I don’t think it will matter, the actual game of football has been taken away from the match going fans donkeys years ago.

The same players and managers who cryarse about too many games a season so the fa cup gets butchered into a pathetic farce of a competition, will be turning out and playing in this sham - despicable money hungry shower of blerts.

Any true football fan won’t be watching this abortion.

 

[LostLegend]

A long watch but really interesting.

The levels of sleaze Infantino and FIFA will sink to in order to fill their pockets is low even by their standards.

Giving Inter Miami the host nation spot, not for being the best team in their league, but for having Lionel Messi in their squad, Infantino going on a podcast with that 'Ishowspeed' nobhead and trying to tout Ronaldo to competing teams on a short term contract (without the permission of him or his club), kicking out smaller teams for multi club ownership whilst allowing bigger clubs to stay, namely clubs owned by the Saudi PIF. FIFA failing to find a broadcaster who would pay anything near what they believed the broadcast rights to be, before selling the rights to DAZN (who?) for $1 billion, only for it to turn out that DAZN had just had a $1 billion investment from... the Saudi PIF...

The whole thing stinks.

 

[alex_w_]

A long watch but really interesting.

The levels of sleaze Infantino and FIFA will sink to in order to fill their pockets is low even by their standards.

Giving Inter Miami the host nation spot, not for being the best team in their league, but for having Lionel Messi in their squad, Infantino going on a podcast with that 'Ishowspeed' nobhead and trying to tout Ronaldo to competing teams on a short term contract (without the permission of him or his club), kicking out smaller teams for multi club ownership whilst allowing bigger clubs to stay, namely clubs owned by the Saudi PIF. FIFA failing to find a broadcaster who would pay anything near what they believed the broadcast rights to be, before selling the rights to DAZN (who?) for $1 billion, only for it to turn out that DAZN had just had a $1 billion investment from... the Saudi PIF...

The whole thing stinks.

There was an in-depth article on BBC today around this too. Also spoke around Saudi wanting a broadcaster similar to how Qatar have BeIn.

 

[summerisle]

 

[Toffe3m4n]

When does this actually start? I know very little about it...

 

[summerisle]

When does this actually start? I know very little about it...

Some crap matches here.

 

[BainesontoastNEW]

When does this actually start? I know very little about it...

1AM in the morning...but it's only Al Ahly v Inter Miami that match.

 

[Blue83]

Some crap matches here.

Basically looks like a bunch of pre season friendlies with a $1billion price tag

 

[Benicetoourboys]

Basically looks like a bunch of pre season friendlies with a $1billion price tag

Its a load of old tosh.

 

[summerisle]

FIFA moving fans to face television cameras at Club World Cup

MIKE KEEGAN IN MIAMI: Mail Sport understands some of those who have bought tickets for the tournament have found their seats shifted amid growing concerns over poor sales numbers.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[West Side Charlie]

I thought the last Fifa regime were greedy but this lot are on another level.
Players knackered, fans fed up with too much football and a 48 team World Cup in 2026.
The working mans game has gone for good.

 

[Runub]

I won’t be watching. Not because it is on in the middle of the night but because I’m not interested in the slightest

 

[Thomasc]

If there’s a game on at a reasonable time and I’m not doing anything, I’ll maybe watch it.

That’s about as much enthusiasm I can possibly muster.

 

[9LeagueTitles5FACups]

Some crap matches here.

PSG versus Botafogo looks like the only legitimate Club World Cup fixture to me as it has the European Champions facing off against the South American Champions. That being said, the whole tournament is a joke which fails to award teams based on merit alone.

FIFA have said that teams have qualified based on past performances in continental competitions, yet some teams are getting two bites of the cherry. Take Man City - they won the Champions League in 2023 and then won the Club World Cup. Now, they have qualified again on the basis of that Champions League win, so they are getting another shot at winning a tournament which previously they would have only had one opportunity to win. I have no problem with them having won it beforehand (casting aside the 115 charges for a brief moment), but to qualify again - this time without merit - shows exactly what this tournament is: a joke which will not be taken seriously.