A Women’s Club World Cup “coming soon” says FIFA’s Infantino

MANCHESTER, England, (Reuters) - FIFA president Gianni Infantino says a new Women’s Club World Cup is being planned as part of a plan to “revolutionise” the female game.

In an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe, Infantino said he was looking forward to the first edition of the already agreed new 24-team men’s Club World Cup but said a women’s version was in the pipeline too.

“My dream is also to see the birth of the very first Women’s Club World Cup. It’s coming very soon. And it will really revolutionize women’s football,” he said.

Such a tournament would allow for the top European teams from UEFA’s Women’s Champions League to face off with clubs from the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League as well as sides from countries where the women’s game is still developing.

The U.S. women’s national team are the current world champions and the dominant force in the game. However, top European men’s clubs have invested heavily in their women’s sides in recent years.

Infantino has previously floated the idea of the Women’s World Cup, for national sides, being played every two years rather than the current four year cycle.

The Club World Cup is being expanded from a relatively lowkey tournament involving seven teams, including just one from Europe, to a 24-team event including eight sides from Europe which FIFA hopes will be a major revenue generator, similar to the World Cup itself.

The first version of the new tournament was due to be held in China in June and July this year but was postponed after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2020 European Championship to be delayed by 12 months.