FIFA, UEFA on collision course

LONDON: Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, is pressing forward with a plan for two new global tournaments that could reshape soccer’s international calendar, putting it on the agenda for a meeting of the sport’s leaders this week. But one of the organisation’s most powerful stakeholders is not happy about it, and is threatening to walk out of the gathering in protest.

The proposal, a $25 billion plan for a revamped Club World Cup and a new national-team competition, is fiercely opposed by members of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body.

The plan, from an investment group led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, was introduced earlier this year by FIFA, which oversees global soccer. The new Club World Cup would be a 24-team championship for club teams, with half the participants drawn from Europe. The second tournament would be a global league of national teams, and would supplant UEFA’s version of a similar competition for European countries, the brand-new Nations League. It would be played under a different format from the quadrennial World Cup.

Members of the council — FIFA’s top board — will receive an overview from various committee heads. Then the conversation will turn to Infantino’s pet project — the $25 billion offer from SoftBank, an issue that has created a contentious atmosphere among the game’s leaders.

If Infantino tries to force an agreement at the meeting, the resistance from European representatives will be intense.

The UEFA members are opposed to how the new tournaments would alter the world soccer schedule and devalue its Champions League competition, the most lucrative in the world.