Real Madrid Rejects Club World Cup Invitation

The Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid will not participate in the Club World Cup of the following year, as revealed by their manager Carlo Ancelotti.

After the 2024–25 season concludes, the competition is scheduled to grow to 32 teams and take place in the US over the course of four weeks the following summer.

The Spanish team was anticipated to be among the most notable teams to compete, having won the competition five times in the previous nine years.

However, Ancelotti has stated that his team will not participate since FIFA has not provided enough funding, and he anticipates that other teams will do the same.

“FIFA forgets that the clubs and players will not participate in that tournament,’ Ancelotti said in an interview with Il Giornale, as quoted by Relevo.

“A single Real Madrid match is worth €20million (£17m) and they want to give us that money for the entire competition. Negative.

“Real Madrid, like other clubs, we will decline the invitation.”

Concerns over the wellbeing of players have prompted criticism of FIFA’s intention to extend the Club World Cup in recent weeks.

Football executives from the Premier League and La Liga have vowed to boycott the event and charged FIFA with “killing the game” by adding extra games to an already full schedule of football games.

Maheta Molango, the PFA’s boss, even hinted that if FIFA doesn’t back down from their ambitions to expand the Club World Cup, legal action may be taken against them.

“Those who run the game need to listen,” he told The Sun. “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.”

Ferran Soriano, the CEO of Manchester City, also feels that the switch to a 32-team format is a part of a “crisis” in terms of match scheduling, suggesting that the Premier League winners may also think twice about playing.

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Nnamdi Okoli