FIFA has made public its general concept for a revamped Club World Cup that would see the competition move to every four years and expand to 24 teams from across the globe.
In a dossier delivered to sponsorship partners and media, which the BBC obtained access to, FIFA president Gianni Infantino released general details of what he believes will be “the first real and true [Club] World Cup” and they create “the world’s greatest club football experience.”
The dossier states the first edition of the tournament will be held in China in 2021 and will take place through the months of June and July. Play would begin with a playoff match between a representative from Oceana and a third qualifier from Asia. Eight teams from Europe would take part in the competition.
The BBC report states that UEFA will likely be alarmed by the announcement, with the European governing body staunchly opposed to anything that remotely competes with the sanctimony of the Champions League, which currently stands tall as the king of club competitions across the world. According to the New York Times, which also seems to have obtained the dossier, UEFA profits as much as $1 billion on the Champions League and would not wish to see its competition devalued in any way.
Details of the revamped Club World Cup have not been nailed down. FIFA even offered in its proposal for sponsorship partners to submit their own format and structure for the competition, given 11 days to do so.
