December 18 – The first edition of the expanded Club World Cup will be staged from June 15 to July 13, 2025, in the United States but the world players union Fifpro has slammed FIFA’s decision.
FIFA said the 32-team tournament, which will officially be called Mundial de Clubes and will take place every four years, would be “harmoniously aligned with the International Match Calendar” to ensure there would be enough of a gap between the final and the start of the following season’s domestic leagues.
“Clubs play a fundamental role in world football, and the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be a major milestone in providing clubs from all confederations with a fitting stage on which to shine at the highest level of the game,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino who has long trumpeted a money-making global club tournament involving all of FIFA’s six confederations.
“This will be an open competition based on sporting merit that will play a key role as part of our efforts to make football truly global.”
The last edition of the Club World Cup in its current guise is currently being held in Saudi Arabia.
The expanded competition will comprise a World Cup-style eight groups of four. The top two progress to the knockout stage, with the finalists playing a total of seven matches. Europe will enter 12 teams, Africa, Concacaf and Asia four each, South America six and Oceania one.
The revamped format will be played in the same slot where FIFA has previously held the Confederations Cup for international teams, a year before the World Cup, but Players’ union Fifpro says the CWC expansion, details of which were officially confirmed by the FIFA Council at the weekend, could have a terrible toll on the players involved since for European clubs it will be right after the regular season ends.
“Players will be expected to perform at the end of an 11-month season with little prospect of getting sufficient rest before the next season begins,” Fifpro declared.
“The decision to go ahead without implementing further player workload safeguards demonstrates a lack of consideration for the mental and physical health of participating players, as well as a disregard for their personal and family lives.”
“The extreme mental and physical pressures at the pinnacle of the game is the principal concern of players with multiple club and national team competitions, leading to exhaustion, physical injuries, mental health issues, diminished performance, and risks to career longevity.”
“They have repeatedly voiced concerns about mounting workload to their national player unions.”
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