Club World Cup: Top European clubs refuse to take part in revamped tournament before 2024 despite Gianni Infantino’s plans

Club World Cup: Top European clubs refuse to take part in revamped tournament before 2024 despite Gianni Infantino’s plans
Europe’s top clubs have told Gianni Infantino they will not take part in a revamped Club World Cup in 2021, scuppering the FIFA president’s plans until at least 2024.The stark message comes in a letter to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin from the European Club Association, which represents 232 of the continent’s leading teams, and was sent via email on Tuesday, three days before a crucial meeting of FIFA’s ruling council in Miami on Friday.3

The letter is a blow to Infantino

The letter is believed to remind Ceferin that the ECA “is unwilling to consider any new or significantly revised competition prior to a holistic assessment” of the international match calendar, which has been agreed until 2024.Ceferin, however, did not really need reminding of this as he and the ECA are in agreement in their anger at how Infantino has gone about this attempt to rewrite the calendarBut the letter will enable the Slovenian, who is also a FIFA vice-president, to tell FIFA there can be no new money-spinner without the game’s biggest stars.Infantino has been trying to get approval for his new Club World Cup for a year and it had seemed he was inching closer to victory this week, as German federation boss and FIFA Council member Reinhard Grindel said he backed the idea – a possible sign that Europe’s opposition was splintering.3

Ceferin is believed to agree with the ECA’s letter

The current seven-team competition is held every winter but is largely ignored in Europe, football’s largest market, and FIFA is desperate to breathe new life into it and earn more money to distribute throughout the game.The FIFA plan has evolved since Infantino first mentioned it at a FIFA Council meeting in Colombia last year but the latest idea is for 24 teams – eight from Europe, six from South America, three each from Africa, Asia and North and Central America and one from Oceania – to play in a pilot tournament that could be worth 50million to each club.But despite that sweetener, Europe’s elite are unmoved and the language of the letter, which has been signed by Manchester United vice-chairman Ed Woodward, Celtic’s Peter Lawwell and the bosses of Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris St Germain, is implacable. Using phrases such as “much to our disappointment” and “utter disregard”, the ECA criticises FIFA for failing to consult properly, with the ‘Taskforce’ set up to resolve Europe’s concerns not letting the clubs discuss the international match calendar or examine Infantino’s financial plans.On the issue of the calendar, the ECA stance could not be clearer, as it points out a pilot tournament in June 2021 would “result in the following uninterrupted sequence of competitions”: national and UEFA club competitions until the end of May, an international window including the UEFA Nations League finals, an 18-day Club World Cup from June 17-July 4, the Africa Cup of Nations and CONCACAF Gold Cup in July, and then the new domestic seasons.

LIVE on talkSPORT

There are seven live commentaries remaining across the talkSPORT network this week. Find out what they are and when you can hear them, below...

• Watford vs Crystal Palace (Saturday) talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield United (Saturday) talkSPORT 2
• West Ham vs Huddersfield (Saturday) talkSPORT 2
• Swansea vs Manchester City (Saturday) talkSPORT
• Wolves vs Manchester United (Saturday) talkSPORT
• Millwall vs Brighton (Sunday) talkSPORT 2
• Fulham vs Liverpool (Sunday) talkSPORT

“In proposing this calendar…FIFA confirms that the protection and well-being of players and the vital interests of clubs are not a priority for football’s world governing body,” it said.This places the clubs on the same side of the argument as world players’ union FIFPro, which made its opposition to the plan public on Wednesday.The ECA is also annoyed that Infantino’s other big proposal from 12 months ago, a global Nations League, has not been killed off, despite no real enthusiasm for it from anywhere.3

Real Madrid are the reigning Club World Cup champions

And it is scathing about FIFA’s refusal to reveal more details on who its backers are for the new tournaments, although it is widely believed to be investors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a group led by Japan’s technology fund SoftBank.FIFA’s failure to “provide any meaningful information” on the proposal to sell 49 per cent of the new events – in a 12-year deal worth 25billion US dollars (18.8billion) – is “perturbing” and inconsistent with its “stated objectives to modernise” and operate in an “open and transparent manner”.The letter concludes by saying the ECA’s members are willing to talk about how a revamped Club World Cup might fit in the calendar after 2024, which they believe was settled in an agreement reached with FIFA in 2015.

---

Jermaine Jenas is confident Tottenham Hotspur will win a trophy this season. Spurs comfortably made it through to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 7-0 demolition of Tranmere Rovers on Friday.
Jermaine Jenas claims this midfielder must start CL final for

---

Manchester United news RECAP as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hired as permanent United manager. Man United have named Solskjaer as permanent manager and will continue preparations for the Premier League
Man Utd In Pole Position To Sign Adrien Rabiot - Thewistle

---

Ashley Cole will not expect any favours from new boss Frank Lampard after the former England left-back joined Derby County. The 38-year-old has signed until the end of the season with the English
Ashley Cole signs for ex-Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard at Derby

---

Notts County owner puts club up for sale hours after tweeting inappropriate image Alan Hardy has already confirmed he is in talks with two interested parties and will
Notts County owner Alan Hardy tweets X-rated picture of penis

---

I: 796). I do not think we can really know quite what Milton thought the end of the ructions of the early 1640s should have been; perhaps he did not know himself. Sometimes the desired outcome is a victory for "truth," as if there will be a unified and fresh-purged English Protestantism, to which all the godly subscribe electively.
03.09.19 - techrights.org
techrights.org/page/11/?stories
Contents. GNU/Linux. Distributions; Devices/Embedded; Free Software/Open Source; Leftovers; GNU/Linux. International Women's Day. International Women's Day, March
Full text of "The_Story_Of_Civilization" - Internet Archive

---

Charlton vs Sunderland LIVE: TV channel, live stream, kick-off time, and team news for the League One play-off final 1 hour ago Welcome to Wembley Stadium for live coverage of the League One play-off final between Charlton Athletic and Sunderland with a place in the Championship at stake!
Doncaster vs Charlton: TV channel, live stream, kick-off time

---

LAURIE WHITWELL: Ray Parlour believes Arsenal will be better equipped to mount a Premier League title challenge next season if they finish this campaign by winning the FA Cup.
Transfer news and football gossip: Chelsea plan Nathan Ake

---

Soccer Star Ada Hegerberg Asked to 'Twerk' After Winning First-Ever Women's Ballon D'Or Award What should've been undoubtedly the best moment of Ada Hegerberg's soccer career quickly devolved into
Ballon d'Or 2018: Ada Hegerberg told to twerk by French DJ

---

Manchester City vs Crystal Palace: Premier League match

---

Rangers news: No action to be taken against Alfredo Morelos or Kilmarnock's Kirk Broadfoot after altercation 19 Mar Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos is free to face Celtic after no disciplinary action was sanctioned following his tangle with Kilmarnock defender Kirk Broadfoot at the weekend.
Google News - Aberdeen F.C. - Latest

---

Twitter can be a tough place, especially when you make a prediction and it comes true. Not many fans would have expected Divock Origi to score a goal this season, let alone in the Merseyside derby, but the Belgian was the match-winner with a bit of luck on Sunday.
Liverpool fan keeps his Divock Origi tattoo promise after

---

Mar 01, 2019 · David Beckham will receive a gift in return when the Galaxy unveil a statue in his likeness in the newly built Legends Plaza outside Dignity Health Sports Park.

---