Club World Cup ‘answer’ to league threat: Infantino
ZURICH: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said his plans for a new, expanded Club World Cup provide the perfect antidote to any potential threat of a breakaway Super League by elite clubs.
According to documents published in the latest series of Football Leaks allegations, a group of top European clubs has discussed the idea of establishing a closed competition which could replace the UEFA Champions League.
The revelations came barely a week after Infantino agreed at a FIFA Council meeting in Rwanda to delay any decision over his plans for a Club World Cup and a global Nations League, instead setting up a taskforce to study the proposals. That was reportedly after UEFA delegates threatened to walk out in protest.
“The Club World Cup is the answer to any breakaway temptation,” Infantino said in an interview. “It will bring much more money for clubs and for the solidarity (development projects).”
Infantino has been pushing to revamp the Club World Cup by expanding it from seven clubs to 24 — 12 of them European — and holding it every four years.
“These attempts to create a Super League are there since the 1990s, and this is coming every time, and it’s up to us, the govern- ment of football, to protect the whole pyramid football system, which benefits the clubs and the world football community,” he said. “If clubs organise a breakaway Super League, it will benefit only the clubs. If FIFA organises the Club World Cup, it will benefit the clubs and 211 football associations.”
Infantino responded to further allegations from Football Leaks by saying he had done “nothing illegal”. It was claimed that Infantino — then UEFA’s Secretary General — directly negotiated” an agreement with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain after they were found to have breached Financial Fair Play rules in 2014.
“The rules allow for the possibility of negotiations and agreements. And who is in charge of negotiations and discussions on the settlement agreements? The administration,” Infantino said.