The War for the Control of Football

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For most of the teams, especially those from South America, the FIFA Club World Cup is a rare chance to test their mettle against the European elite. Following an announcement by Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President, the Club World Cup will be revamped, include more teams, and generate more income.
In fact, the tournament has become a new front in FIFA’s war against UEFA and the world's most lucrative competition, the UEFA Champions League
James Montague explains how, Marco Bevilacqua illustrates.
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#ClubWorldCup #ClubWC

[@ryanoutram7059]

"The money should be shared with the rest of the world, like me and my executives" was the full quote I'm pretty sure

[@jtmcgee]

Infantino does not care about football he cares about money and influence. He would allow players to use their hands if enough money was offered, especially if it came from a autocrat who abuses human rights.

[@otto_jk]

I have never seen a person working in football more out of touch with football than him

[@frka.836]

But he also does a lot for the improvment of football associations outside of Europe... He isn't all black nor white.

[@BigPurp9]

Honestly I don’t understand why the players union don’t go on strike. All of these dumb decisions have been made over the past few years without any of their input.

[@42void42]

FIFA president should be only a legendary former player who loves football

[@loganhall3769]

@@frka.836 I think it's part of the job, can't really not be involved in the sport as the head of Fifa. Same could be said for Blatter's time, but he was objectively bad.

[@Valpo2004]

I like the idea of spreading wealth around via more global club competitions. I don't however trust FIFA to do it.

[@Lucas-vo6kr]

Well UEFA definitely isn’t going to do it. As a non European, I know FIFA is bad, but UEFA is just as bad and they want to hoard all the football power in Europe so I’m forced to back FIFA here.

[@Tomassssss14]

@@Lucas-vo6kr or you could just not back either? No one is forcing you to support either organization. They’re equally corrupt.

[@MrGilang100]

@@Tomassssss14 Backing neither means indirectly supporting EUFA since now the balance of power is on the UEFA side. In a world where they are equal supporting neither is an option, sadly, we dont live in that world.

[@kingplatform2255]

@@MrGilang100 We haven't reached that stage yet. It's border line phase. UEFA's influence is strong, but not strong enough to diminish the opportunities other confederations have to produce world class football. If we want to have 100% equality CONMEBOL to step up and aggressively advertise themselves. These countries supply endless talent to Europe. Example; Messi, Neymar Jr, Suarez. CONMEBOL must arrange programs so that it can assert dominance, which allows AFC, CAF, OFC to equally distribute power. The downside to this is bigger corruption scandals are more likely to occur as not all people in power are good and kind hearted.

[@uncletin6830]

@@kingplatform2255 Uefa is actually much stronger than the picture u paint. The world talent from other Federation flow in that direction bcoz of the money the giant Euro clubs draws and with it the influence and power that completes the vicious circle. Those with, will use their means (influence) to main the status quo. Rule of nature money and power.

[@cesarrosales1959]

These guys at FIFA and local federations make all these plans assuming players can play every day at a 100%. They are slowly killing the sport.

[@SarahCharles92]

The only way I can see this kind of project working is as follows: 1. Have FIFA put a salary cap on all football teams worldwide, which can increase yearly aligned with the club's country's inflation +an agreed % by FIFA + each player receives a % (say. 0.01%) of their club's annual revenue per game they play. 1a. This will help the sport maintain sustainability, while also ensuring the players are fairly compensated for contributing to their club's profitability, 1b. This will also mean that the players are actively encouraged to improve the club's revenue via high levels of performance, which will help them get paid even more. 2. With the freed cash made available by limiting player salaries to a set amount, they would also be able to then increase the squad sizes allowed for competitions (so, instead of 25-man squads in the Champions League, for example, it would go up to 40 players) 2a. An increase in squad sizes is needed if the number of games clubs are expected to play is going to increase. and 3. Have FIFA mandate that football players are only allowed to play a set maximum number of games for their club in any given calendar year, forcing teams to make use of the increased squad sizes allowed for by point 2, above. 3a. This will encourage/force more frequent player rotation, such that player injury risk is heavily reduced. 3b. This will also mean that clubs have a greater interest in developing a wider number of players, meaning the sport is able to develop a wider talent pool. However, I can never see any of the above happening under the current way football is run. EDIT: Typos

[@BGeezy4sheezy]

The top teams have huge amounts of depth. They should play their backups more

[@quituccio1583]

@@BGeezy4sheezy this already favours teams who can spend loads to have 2 full squads of starters or more. Would you like it to be even worse?

[@kennywilkinson913]

Personally, I think they should play twice a day. With no subs.

[@lucasmehling2698]

Why does it seem there’s only bad options to choose from these days 😔

[@JakeJonRoberts]

Capitalism only values that which can expand capital, not that which can improve the lives of people or the things people love.

[@HereWeald]

@@JakeJonRoberts any form of government will fail under corrupt people.

[@funkafrika8169]

Story of my life. 😂😂😂😂

[@LoyalFan9383]

@@JakeJonRoberts well it’s not like Socialism is any good now is it

[@MrTompahallam]

@@JakeJonRoberts well said. Football imitates wider society.

[@JohnMushitu]

Infantino makes Blatter seem like a genius

[@opinionatortv6457]

*UEFA and FIFA fighting to politically and financially dominate football* The other confederations: Man's just here innit? Also, the animation of tifo's videos have just kept getting better. Keep it up boys

[@Kyle-mw3bo]

Tbf it’s the other confederations that are pushing FIFA to fight UEFA for dominance.

[@ficoltd2306]

Man's just here innit 😂😂

[@christianarigoni2124]

Well the other confederations support FIFA against UEFA.

[@shaheemjackson283]

There's nothing wrong with switching things up every 10 to 20 years or so, but the real problem lies in the fact that these people never consider player welfare into their discussion. Just because these pros get paid handsomely doesn't mean you should treat them like robots. This ain't EA sports.

[@pritapp788]

Player welfare as an argument is a non-starter when you have leagues with 38 matches, games in midweek and weekend, an increase off European games played in competitions, a League Cup with home/away semi-final matches and FA Cup rounds with replays. That ship sailed many years ago I'm afraid.

[@shaheemjackson283]

@@pritapp788 Good point, but that amount of games per season has been around for ages so there's no need to change it at all as it's been working. The real problem is that since the pandemic, the schedule has been hectic and these players haven't had any sort of proper rest time and were heading into 3 years since covid.

[@Prederick]

What's most insane about this stuff, especially on FIFA's part, is that they do not care one bit about player welfare. Infantino (and to a different extent, Ceferin) would have players playing 80 games a season if it meant more influence and more money in the pockets of them and their supporters. I hope more players speak out about it in the future, it's becoming ridiculous. If it's borderline untenable in FM, how can it possibly work in real life?

[@masx4813]

Today I feel, Invasion - Gianni Infantino -

[@zagazal]

😂

[@jonasfrohwitter8553]

Imagine you make UEFA the good guy in a conflict. Goes to show how effed up FIFA is

[@samuelsibanda9589]

Well they scrapped the Fifa Confederations Cup and the current format of the Club World Cup is a glorified version of the former. Before factoring in the politics and player welfare, the idea of clubs competing in a similar format to that of national teams seems interesting. However I'd still prefer 32 instead of 48 teams.

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

I prefer 16 teams. At least it's not 8 teams. Just pick out the winner of the Community shield, the DFB Super Cup the KNVB Super Cup the French Super Cup and Portugal super cup if none the clubs of those countries didn't win Europa Champions and Conference league.

[@samuelsibanda9589]

@@runrafarunthebestintheworld As a qualification criteria I agree but 16 teams is too small. Remember the idea is to have a club version of the World Cup which mimics the national teams one as we know it. Eight groups, each with 4 teams, top 2 in the group advance to knockouts etc. So instead of having the CWC (which is very similar to the Confed Cup) every year, let it be scrapped and played after four years as the curtain raiser before the world Cup the next year.

[@samuelsibanda9589]

For the national teams World Cup, these have been the slots allocated for each Confederation: 1. Africa 5 2. Asia 4 3. Europe 13 4. North and Central America 6 5. South America 4

[@bryanngdawei3282]

@@samuelsibanda9589think you mixed up north and south America

[@Ese96Agoaye]

I'd like to see the FIFA Confederations Cup return as a women's tournament.

[@ivaneurope]

IMO UEFA will seek closer relationship with COMNEBOL (the football body in South America) to reform the Intercontinental Cup (the matchup between the Champions League and Copa Libertadores winners) as a direct competitor to the expanded Club World Cup (they may as well include the Europa League and Copa Sudamericana winners). And this will not be the first time the two will be working together - last year the reintroduced Finalissima (a match pitting the European Championship and Copa America winners, formerly known as the Artemio Franchi Cup) was held. Furthermore there were plance to incorporate the COMNEBOL teams in the UEFA Nations League, but ultimately fell through as the South American World Cup qualifying will remain in its current round-robin format. UEFA will surely try to increase its working relationship with COMNEBOL (and CONCACAF probobly) to undermine FIFA and Infantino in particular.

[@shawngillogly6873]

That's a nice wish. But UEFA has been trying to Dragon Hoard its cash flow for over a decade. That's the whole point of the Nations League. Why lose all those friendly Euros to FIFA sharing when they can have it as a UEFA "competition." UEFA ain't reaching out to anyone. Which is why CONMEBOL and CONCACAF have been talking about sharing competitions.

[@sKaraptor2]

I actually like the idea of a 32 team club World Cup. Was always interested to see clubs from opposite sides of the world compete against each other. I used to make my own club World Cup back when I used to play FIFA13 lol, was always fun

[@MatheusFernandes-xf4zm]

reality: European clubs are an efficient money laundering machine, unlike other clubs in the world.

[@eric11]

I wouldn't mind it but the problem is how do you chose the clubs?

[@andrewwomble2722]

@@eric11 My guess is if it's every 4 years, you take the campions from each Federation's top international club competition and maybe the runners up if say UEFA gets more spots in the tournament. It would be a boring tournament though. The national team world cup works because good players come from all over the world but a club world cup, all of the best players are in Europe so it would end up just looking like the Champions League in the knockout stages.

[@gabrielnycz7470]

Yeah but it will probably be like a world cup in future we will have have more teams

[@gothestags09]

There should be no messing with the number 32. Doing this on a World Cup and Club World Cup basis should be the goal. If each runs every four years, then confederation tournaments also every four years, then that is a big "summer tournament" three out of every four years. The allocation of teams for the World Cup and Club World Cup could be the same as well. I think there's a lot of possibilities to do good things for the good of the global game and not just for the good of Uefa. Unfortunately I think that means Uefa would have to make some concessions on things and because of money they of course won't.

[@cyberpokey]

The club world cup isn't seen as valuable because it happens every year.. and it feels more like a pre-season friendly tournament than a competitive one. Make it every 4 or 2 years with teams with most accumulated points over that time period qualifying for it.

[@zondor8123]

Yeah it should be after the world Cup once in 4 years, and UEFA + other FA gains bonus the more player they have, win win for all but FIFA is so corrup to the core it want all the money

[@cyanhallows7809]

UCL is valuable and it happens every year. It's just club world cup has no prestige

[@HJ-ne1gx]

Every 2 years would be interesting

[@illogical1421]

And yet the Champions League is valuable despite it happening every year? That's not the reason why CWC sucks.

[@LOLxUnique]

The Cwc is super valuable for teams other than ones from Europe. Imagine the scenes if an Egyptian team beats Real Madrid… Maybe a better idea is a tournament without European teams? Haha

[@btb3614]

I think the most apt metaphor for the current state of football is a toffee apple. It looks shiny and beautiful, when you bite into it the first time it’s sweet, but at its core…it’s a rotten apple.

[@AM2K2]

Why does FIFA always come across like James Bond villains?

[@albertbrammer9263]

Because they are corrupt.

[@fillipinern7588]

IMO the main problem with the an expanded club world cup would be too many games for the players. A potential way to solve this is if the clubs in the Club world cup does not compete in the champions league that season, but that would probably be economically bad for the clubs who don't get to compete in the club world cup

[@illogical1421]

They can cut on other lesser important domestic and continental cups that are filling the schedule up.

[@Colin_Fasoli]

@@illogical1421 lesser important to who exactly?

[@Hugh_Mungus_Johnson]

@@illogical1421 Most countries only have one domestic cup. There's nothing to cut.

[@RorschDG-2]

@@Colin_Fasoli I don't think the top Six/Eight PL Sides should even be playing the League Cup since they are already in the Champions League most likely, or the Europa League already.

[@albertbrammer9263]

Club over country? When a player is getting 200k a week he will pick his club.

[@pascal9055]

I am a simple man. If Infantino says right, I go left. He's an excellent moral compass that reliably points south at all times.

[@Spicy-spaghetti]

When are people gonna realize, that as fans you could all come together and hold power over football. Without fans their is no FIfa, and Uefa. Take control of your support, stop wanting it fed to you, or else you won't like what they make.

[@SmileySadFaceHD]

lol football is not a democracy, people have absolutely no say in what happens in the sport and they never will do. They became companies instead of teams decades ago. Unless you want only local football there will always be a governing body making choices.

[@HvrlemJvmvicvn]

I love your Football classes 🥇🐐👑

[@miloudbouchefra200]

For one, playing in 95% of African countries is a nightmare. Bad stadiums and pitches, low levels of security, and bad organisation. In addition, high profile players will always be afraid of injuries, just imagine M'bappé or Haaland being injured by a £100-a month player. I'm African and I'd love the continent to develop in all the fields including football, but I'm against such wild ideas that ignore the reality of things, one needs to be realistic as a lot of work is needed before such a tournament is possible.

[@crispykneecaps7209]

The problem with the Club World Cup is most people don't support the clubs in it. Is all of Asia going to be following Al-Hilal's progress and cheering them on? Unlikely. Apart from Auckland City fans, the tournament will mean little to people in Oceania. Sure it's the pinnacle for fans of South America's top clubs, but they're the only people it matters to.

[@wokashraf5028]

if the team from japan or korea, there still a lot of supporters in asia. For example in south east asia, j league have their partner countries in which they do partnership and local station airing their match every week..we do watch the game and support team in which have asean player in them

[@crispykneecaps7209]

@@wokashraf5028 which ASEAN countries would you say the J-League and K-League are popular in?

[@bthunderbolt4101]

@@crispykneecaps7209 as someone from Oceania watching the club world cup I naturally support anyone from the ofc whether it is Auckland or a team from new Caledonia or Tahiti. It's like one of the only time football from our side of the world get any representation

[@crispykneecaps7209]

@@bthunderbolt4101 yeah, but you're part of a very, very small group of people who feel that way. Apart from that one year that Auckland City went quite far, it's barely even newsworthy that they're in the tournament.

[@bthunderbolt4101]

@@crispykneecaps7209 tbf usually there is as much interest in it as there is in an all whites game but its just the nz media don't care about football in general and it doesn't help with nz football being so incompetent

[@MrReese]

Infantino is worse than Blatter, crazy that that's even possible.

[@notboutit6090]

If he’s worse he will get caught up if he’s being corrupt

[@MrReese]

@@notboutit6090 IF...lol. That was a good one.

[@drex5160]

Never seen a man so aptly named. INFANTino 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@theodoricboahen8709]

Fr like if he was born to be political at the top

[@ozzyosman28]

Great video. Nothing but good quality and great insight on how our beautiful sport is getting misused and exploited.

[@anamitrasikdar9115]

I think there would be another FIFA Club World Cup in 2023-24 season which might be the last time it is held in the current format.

[@AqueleRod]

They are all nice people, thinking only about what's best for the sport, not themselves. Football is in good hands! 😒😒😩😩

[@spandanlahirichowdhury5842]

A video on Steaua Bucharest would be really great

[@willalexander1067]

Excellent thumbnail, thought that was John on the left for a brief moment.

[@hapatimaguire19]

Amazing content ❤❤❤❤❤

[@onedeadcat]

And people thought Septic Bladder was bad.

[@shaqtaku]

Football was so much better before the gulf states started interfering in it

[@Darwinek]

Every time you think Infantino reached a new low, he comes knocking from the bottom.

[@COMPLETEMADMAN]

It could actually affect national cups the most. Even now 1st teams don't play most of the tournament to let players recover.

[@Yamikani]

The football calender is gonna keep getting complicated in the next few years, if stuff like this keeps going on

[@DynamicUnreal]

If Football is truly a global game then the biggest club competition cannot be exclusive to Europe. You have to include the rest of the world to make the rest of the world be a part of global football.

[@BlueWoWTaylan]

All these cups and tournaments fail to understand the most important thing. That players are HUMAN. You can only have them play for so many games before they are either exhausted or injured. And when that happens, you dilute the quality of everything because teams now feel like they are forced to rotate constantly for competition they deem 'not important'. Already you see it with many cups. It just hurts competitions overall. The 'more matches, more money' stuff is diminishing returns. If people see teams not fielding their best because they have to rest them and think the competition is not important, then the fans will also feel that way. And you will be left with just another competition bloat. Oh and there is the case of travel issues. We don't have teleportation, so how will teams constantly travel across the world? Not to mention the fanbases. Majority of fanbases and therefore the money, comes from 'local' bases that support their local teams only. If anything, this plan only benefitting the elite teams who can afford the expenses and have garnered a 'global' fanbase over the years. But even so, that is no enough. Travel alone will make the schedules impossible.

[@sierrag8412]

A 32 team Club World Cup will just be top European teams winning 8-0 until the last 16 where its basically just UCL knockouts but we already have that so whats the point? All that will cause is more injuries from the extra 5-10 games players will have to play

[@AhmedSamir-cr7ym]

A war for money, not football development. Half of the countries in Asia and Africa do not have any football facilities or professional leagues. Construction must be from juniors who are in the millions. This is how football becomes better.

[@MatheusFernandes-xf4zm]

I add: the export of these players to Europe should be made more Difficult.

[@aslamaakhter7388]

Even though both options are bad....what do you expect when politics interfere But I would support the club world cup.... Gives a chance for other lesser known teams to come to the limelight.... For long we had to support European teams but now we can support our own teams

[@108u9]

2:41 GI: “Today I feel shady”

[@thisIsFunnyLolz]

Who even needs a club World Cup? It sounds good in theory but there are too many games and having it every 4 years does not make sense with entire teams being different from 4 years prior. The confederations cup was a great way to test a host country's ability to handle crowds and stadiums a year before hosting the real World Cup along with getting everyone salivating for the real deal WC. It had some great upsets like USA over Brazil in 2009. If CONMEBOL and UEFA clubs want to have a somewhat organized Finalissima for Clubs similar to what CONCACAF and CONMEBOL are going to do with their own "Final Four", then sure. But a massive tournament of 32 teams would be too much, never truly carry real prestige imo, and be extremely taxing for players which would mean the top players only get an extended break every 4 years during the women's World Cup. Player welfare should be the most important thing when considering these expansions, but sadly it isn't and I know some of my heroes of football that are sadly no longer with us would be so disgusted with how corrupt, political, and morally bankrupt football structures are now with these infantile glorified administrators who would surely sell their own mothers for a euro, pound, or dollar.

[@ethdfncnf]

Took the words right out of my mouth, it's sad what is happening to football

[@grapefruitsyrup8185]

Fifa is the lesser evil here. Club WC is to make sure europe does not monopolise world football as football should be global. You 2 are really just clowns over here fighting for elitism and gatekeeping. Shameful

[@thisIsFunnyLolz]

@@grapefruitsyrup8185 Bruh I hate UEFA with a passion and do not like the vice grip they already have on club football. But making a weird, forced club tournament that will let FIFA pocket a huge amount of the money, while burning out the players severely, is not the solution. Should we not aspire to solutions that are better than "lesser evil"? They are both scum. And how am I gatekeeping? I literally suggest staging big grudge matches like CONMEBOL and CONCACAF are doing to promote their clubs and leagues. If FIFA really wants to develop club football outside of Europe maybe it should stop pocketing every euro it can get its hands on and push for real changes and investing in other leagues instead of taking bribes to host the first new club World Cup in China. How does the Club WC prevent Europe controlling club football more exactly? European clubs and UEFA will not sign off on this unless they also get a huge cut which could make the inequality theoretically larger. Don't act like FIFA is not doing this out of self interest. A more globally balanced sport would be great in theory, but doing it at the expense of the health of the players would be also be shameful. And there would be massive resistance as there is corruption within other leagues and clubs also that have prevented evolution for decades such as in parts of CONMEBOL so this wouldn't just fix everything guaranteed and quickly. If it must exist, it should not be so many teams for the sake of the players and not be excessively drawn out.

[@karlos55555]

I wouldn't trust any of them, they'd sell their grannies for a fiver.

[@alfedge9527]

i remember a time when Infantino came in and thought potentially he could turn the corrupt fifa ship around, rather than grind it into overdrive

[@LoudMouthFootball]

I never watch the Club World Cup its so undesirable…

[@samia.n2392]

greed vs greed, its a lose lose

[@ahmedlallo098]

Liked the video but I thought one aspect was wrong. You mention CAF and AFC being for an expanded Club World Cup but not Conmebol. Conmebol benefits from an expanded Cup as well. A midseason tournament with 32 teams is much more exciting for Conmebol than a tournament right after a long season or 2 months into the offseason.

[@manme6051]

I would like to see an actual Club World Cup but for it to work all leagues have to be in more synchronized in their calendars. Probably also have it every 4 years. Tricky situation...

[@iampower5547]

Fifa club world cup should have more than 6 teams. Instead of holding a qualifier for each spot in each region just start the fifa club world cup for all teams around the world making it the biggest tournament of all time. It might be bigger than champions league and fifa world cup

[@albertbrammer9263]

That works if you care. In Europe we do not care. The Arabs do not seem to care or they could buy teams in say, Brazil. Then pay huge transfer fees to get players. But they do not.

[@elijahnissi]

A very VOX style animation, but I'm here for it!

[@danielberry4765]

The tournament concept is absurd. It was started as a test of champions around the world, now they want just another tournament. Jog on.

[@radi.inkrush]

4:49 lorem ipsum 😂

[@leobestbote4244]

I just think this is too much on the players who already are struggling with injuries due to many games being played already,

[@Skotan344]

Exactly what I was thinking. Nobody cares about the well-being of the players. It's all just numbers to them. And also... The quality of the game declines in situations like these

[@Heisty1]

This players are getting payed alot and many more equally skilled professionals not so much with less play time. This can work

[@kevinfofana6565]

@@Heisty1 being paid well and skilled is not a shield to getting injured, retiring early and overall reduction in quality. This would require clubs to expand their squads to 35 and there are some clubs whose budgets cannot afford that. The other option is to make a tournament an U23 and see the youths battle it out or use it a preseason tournament with unlimited substitutions

[@leobestbote4244]

@@Heisty1 I've heard this argument time and again but even if you pay these players billions, they are still flesh and blood, they will tire and that's something no amount of money can change or improve

[@1998Cebola]

@@Heisty1 only someone that hates good football could hold your opinion. I like top football with top players, not half injured squads playing at 60 % capacity, always missing key players.

[@LILBEANSTNWA]

BRUH THIS IS LITTERALLY THE SUPER LEUGE BUT FOR WORLD FOOTBALL.

[@TOOLEY11]

Can u explain the Argentina league haven't a clue how it works

[@cass2239]

What does the Club World Cup look like though if the big clubs say no and stay in the Champions League? Are they going to invite the 7-8th placed teams to compete?

[@lindlind3859]

I agree that elite football shouldnt be congested only in europe! It should be shared around the world! Cup competitions could be dropped for club world cup.

[@17-MASY]

The Idea of a big Club World Cup sounds like fun and can be better than UCL if executed properly

[@anthonyjudeaggabao2302]

If there will be another major change in club football it will come from the clubs and not whatever nonsense fifa or uefa does. The eventuality of a breakaway champions league is already looming and brazilian clubs want a breakaway league. They will eventuality come to a conclusion that cross continent club football is profitable and can induce growth just not in fifa’s terms

[@andymina9561]

Small changes every year or 2 are better than giant changes every decade

[@Driftking859]

I wouldn't mind a summer club world cup style tournament held every two or 3 years but the issue is more to do with how teams qualify

[@Sasquatch10]

The players only get one true rest period every other year, it would be unfair to take that away from them.

[@illogical1421]

Teams qualify to continental tournaments like UCL by winning or topping their domestic leagues, so same, clubs winning or topping the continental leagues qualify to the CWC, much like they're doing now.

[@KristalMizoreCalma]

If Fifa pushing the revamp club world cup they should make it every 4 years similar to world cup the problem will be, How will they choose teams from each confederation. The qualifications probably similar to world cup qualifications where in 4 years span of qualifying match and but the problem will be, how many teams per domestic league.

[@tflsifpodcast7601]

with all due respect, the map of Morocco is incorrect.

[@Drunken_Master]

Gianni Infantino is the reincarnation of Benito Mussolini.

[@dmoney9920]

I ❤️ ⚽️

[@Kyle-mw3bo]

If they do go ahead with this tournament the European teams should just send the reserve and youth sides. Gives them experience against successful sides and lends the name to the tournament without risking any reputation harm

[@Centaur987]

The issue is that that would make the tournament seem very undesirable and will not draw fans from Europe and maybe from outside as well if the major stars aren't playing

[@Kyle-mw3bo]

@@Centaur987 I mean, exactly. Let FIFA have their tournament to make money for FIFA and keep your players fit for the stuff that actually matters

[@Centaur987]

@Kyle135 the tournament won't end up as much as a money earner as fifa want so it'll end up back to where we are now

[@Kyle-mw3bo]

@@Centaur987 And? The Club World Cup is a silly idea cooked up to make FIFA and the boards money. It’s not a worthwhile sporting competition

[@Centaur987]

@@Kyle-mw3bo on that I agree

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

I still don't think the Club World Cup should be every 4 years. If anything every two years is better. If they want more teams maybe they can invite the Supporters Shield winner the Europa league winner the Conference league winner and if a Brazil team doesn't win Copa America the Copa Do Brazil winner.

[@kaspernielsen9149]

didn't even know it was held

[@kicka11]

Infantino is the world’s most boring supervillain

[@eL-RaL]

How?

[@nst1981]

One word: Money

[@nitingovind6143]

Great video as always! Minor comment on the infographics though - while showing maps, it is quite confusing when the landmass is a 'light' colour and the waterbody is in 'dark' colours. Would be great if you can swap the colour schemes in future videos.

[@Rmat7]

It's not much of a war, club world cup is like a Sunday league compared to champions league 😅 the final got like a 30 second recap on ESPN where I'm from

[@menosscott]

This is why I celebrated the birth of the Super League. You have lawyers and businessmen infiltrating football and fighting over money but those same people would go out and beg the football community and fans to fight against the greed of the 14 super league clubs. This is why I'm happy for a new proper super league. People talk about history and what not I say screw that. No one bat eye lid when the Super Cup was abolished or when the Premier League was established (ironically broke away from the EFL due to greed as well). If the Super League can be more inclusive and less exclusive I think its a good idea for football. Keep football money within football.

[@WaterCarrier07]

There’s a lot of money but I can’t tell you who it’s from but please vote it through sounds just like Tory Britain

[@gbalph4]

Well it happened. The new 2025 Club WC with 32 teams will be hosted in the United States with the next one hosted in 2029 in an unknown location. Thanks Infantino, we need more events here. (not sarcastic, actually happy) Plus if UEFA did a CL finals here, there would be an uproar.

[@Crowned-Qwesi]

Tifo: "... current continental tournaments" English FA Cup in the shot: 👁️ 👄 👁️

[@tomislavsekerija1957TN]

It's so funny how everybody's against Super League but they don't see some version of it in UEFA CL.

[@ComboSmooth]

This is what happens when you let Dr Evil take the wheel

[@tiagogomes3807]

UEFA and FIFA are in a strong competition for the #1 place on the most hated sports institutions.

[@SkyTechLover]

Ceferin a great man and leader. Infantino a man that could be bought for everything.

[@emiliou6898]

Great man and leader lol, learn that everyone is corrupt in the confederations

[@1998Cebola]

lmao he is just as corrupt, just not as much of a complete imbecil

[@SkyTechLover]

@@1998Cebola With what he did and reacted on the madness of European super league. Only that didn't show. These clubs they could just pay him and he could had been happy to do whatever they want. But Ceferin reacted great from the first moment. Infantino took him some time and this shows a lot.

[@jordanmince7613]

both are bad as each other

[@aceaugusto]

isn’t possible to explain how this tournament is important for brazilian clubs, that’s literally our most important trophy, every single child grows up dreaming to win a world cup with our national squad and win the club world cup with their favourite team and btw palmeiras não tem mundial

[@dhruvurs9890]

Why was the Intercontinental Cup taken away in the first place?!

[@MatheusFernandes-xf4zm]

Money

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Great video. Looking forward to how they destroy football.

[@swarbhanubanerjee8151]

UCL new format, nations league, their own domestic leagues and now this😳

[@velkorez2822]

I would support a more international champions league, so that teams from south America,north America, Africa and Asia can get more visibility and financial aid. I think it would also be enjoyable for the fans of the clubs, the problem is it would probably be too many games

[@iso6203]

Exactly the same way I feel...

[@DipaTarigan]

How do they travel? Teleport?

[@TheB0a]

Absolutely horrible idea

[@Kyle-mw3bo]

We can do this when we invent MACH-2 passenger airplanes

[@dionysise5008]

as a European I couldnt care less about the CWC. UEFA should just focus on UCL In which actually it should avoid big changes. For years now the UCL has surpassed the world cup in quality and popularity, it just has to take good care of it and avoid crazy ideas

[@MrFooFighter13]

0:50 Are the Guangxi supporters club in the middle east? I know Im being pedantic, but cmon.

[@karookpoto7323]

Many ways than none, money has corrupted the world game.

[@will_from_pa]

Players aren't machines. They can't play this many games in a calendar year. There should be a minutes cap of ~5000 minutes per player per year.

[@jimmym1955]

Meet the new boss/same as the old boss

[@rafadacosta1675]

FIFA is a corrupt organization! There needs to some sort of accountability to the game now that we can communicate with each other unencumbered. These people are horrible!

[@stefanc4520]

Someone needs to take a NUKE to FIFA and rebuild something with integrity from ashes.

[@migueljanvier7104]

What about protecting the players from burnout

[@14thCaptain]

I think the larger the financial gap gets between Europeans clubs, their leagues, and the rest of the world's clubs and leagues, the worse European arrogance towards non-European players gets. Being skeptical of players from fringe leagues or nations without any football history is to be expected, but given that even phenoms from South American powerhouses have to "prove themselves in Europe" before their talents are taken seriously, the superiority complex this attitude perpetuates is alarming. Watching Enzo go from a complete unknown to Europeans eyes in Argentina, to less than 30 games at Benfica, a wildly successful World Cup, and then finally a 100+ million transfer to Chelsea in one year is absurd. The absurdity only balloons when you consider how easily any English, French, Spanish, Italian, or German youngster doing anything remotely noteworthy at Europeans clubs youth levels are hyped beyond belief before even debuting for their senior club, despite those wunderkinds playing against a talent level lower than most of the "farmer leagues" that Europeans love to look down upon.

[@skoczek777]

rel I think that many of the opponents omits intentionally or unintentionally the fact, that we tend to perceive club football only as a European thing. Considering automatically UEFA Champions League winner as the best club in the world, even if it's true, for me isn't any different than Americans doing World Series in baseball playing only between each other. Especially that due to tight calendar and no other competitions, European clubs barely plays with clubs from South America, Africa or Asia. It's hard to even compare them because of that. Long story short: you think you're the best? Prove it. The only problem is that, again, it's making schedule even more tighter.

[@tobbe1224]

All your points is based upon the idea that European club football isn't superior? But it is. All nations are capable of creating great talent. But claiming the Columbian or South Korean league is as competitive as the Premier League or LaLiga is just wrong. No offense to those leagues, my own countries league is also far from competitive, but come on. The financial backing the large European leagues gets, especially the premier league directly correspondents with how much they get in return. I don't think the solution to the problem is to scrap the UCL or include more big European teams in a Club World Cup. People would still rather see United vs Barcelona than, Barcelona vs Santos. Look at the players playing for European super teams, there is no such thing as "Arrogance towards non-European players".

[@martytu20]

@@tobbe1224 Your point is based on a strawman, because European clubs tend to buy the best talent in the world because they can pay the most. Top European clubs also has a chance at prestigious tournaments, which hints at the imbalance that Infantino is aware of. Leagues like J-League, MLS, Liga MX and South American leagues cannot compete with UEFA based leagues because of geography rather than talent.

[@Tomwithnonumbers]

@@martytu20 I think you're just making Tobbe's point. He said the European clubs are the richest, so all the talented players go and play for them, wherever they come from. And that's true, and whilst it's true, the Club World cup will not gain significant popularity. Chances are you would get more US fans watching Man City vs Barcelona than Man City vs LA Galaxy. Yes it's not a very fair state of affairs, but the club world cup won't change the fact that's true. Honestly, the thing most likely to change the balance is well beyond football. As other countries get richer (or more interested in football), and more of their citizens spend more money on internal leagues instead of watching foreign ones, more players will stay instead of moving to a European club.

[@Marvin17B]

well maybe the problem is in the availability of data. Most rich european clubs make their purchases based on analytics and if there is no available data on players from foreign leagues, they will just choose not to take the risk and rather just wait that some other european club buys them. They know, that if the player turns out to be good, they will have to pay more to get them, but it's just not as risky.

[@jonpaul3868]

Football, your modern days circus maximus

[@jericho3294]

ngl that thumbnails pretty hot

[@j.d.5626]

FIFA does not play the player wages, but ask for more and more. The calendar is absurd already. And basically they just want to grab more money. As shown on many ocasions

[@kaspernielsen9149]

noo infantino believes that he should get more blood money