UEFA ANGER GROWS OVER CLUB WORLD CUP REVAMP

A MAJOR row is brewing between FIFA and UEFA this week amid plans from football’s global governing body to introduce a revamped Club World Cup that could threaten the Champions League. It was reported yesterday that FIFA president Gianni Infantino has submitted a proposal for a 24-club competition to run each season, replacing the current seven-team affair that has struggled to gain credibility since its inception in 2000. FIFA and UEFA did not comment yesterday, with the idea expected to be prominent on the agenda at FIFA’s council meeting in Rwanda tomorrow and on Friday. The situation follows a two-pronged FIFA proposal earlier this year to rejig significantly the Club World Cup to an expanded format every four years, as well as introducing a Global Nations League to replace the FIFA Confederations Cup. In May, Infantino said he had investors willing to put $25billion into the plans from 2021, with Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group at the head of the consortium which reportedly also includes Saudi money. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said at the time that the plans were ‘highly cynical and ruthless mercantilism’ and it is likely he will take an even stronger view of the redrawn proposals that not only provide direct competition to the Champions League, but also UEFA’s Nations League, which is in its inaugural edition. Figures within football believe it is possible that FIFA would use their drastic proposal for an annual Club World Cup — featuring the biggest clubs from Europe and the Premier League — as a means of persuading UEFA ultimately to agree to their original four-yearly option.