“The tournament will bring huge revenue to the participating clubs and also to the non-participating clubs, which will contribute to the football ecosystem. It will make football more global, not just European. And it will not significantly increase players’ workload, as it is only played every four years and for a small number of clubs. What increases the workload of the players are the national leagues with 20 teams, the two national cups, the friendly matches and the exhibition matches, and the fact that the coaches do not rotate their teams. Here is what Nasser Al-Khelaïfi recently said about the new Club World Cup. A competition that has already been criticized, particularly in the Premier League. Yes, but now, in addition to the pessimism surrounding this new tournament, the exit of the Parisian president does not pass either. With this in mind, the leaders of the Union of European Clubs (UEC) expressed “deep concern” after the remarks of the president of the ECA.
“His comments follow a familiar pattern: presenting domestic leagues as the problem to justify creating more space in the international calendar for elite clubs to play exclusive tournaments among themselves. We have read this scenario before. Mr Al-Khelaifi’s predecessor at the ECA, Andrea Agnelli, openly advocated reducing the size of domestic leagues to make room for additional international club matches. This program ultimately resulted in the controversial Super League project, which Al-Khelaifi publicly opposed. Yet his recent remarks suggest that the same vision is losing in a new form.detailed the representatives of the UEC, a competing union of the ECA. Insisting on the strength of the national leagues – “reducing their importance to prioritize a handful of elite clubs will only deepen the financial and competitive divide within European football, further damaging sporting merit” – the UEC finally invited Nasser Al-Khelaifi “to correct his comments, while calling on leagues, clubs, players and supporters to resist these continued efforts aimed at diminishing the importance of national competitions”.
