Revolt over Club World Cup plan
Fifa has been threatened with legal action by organisations representing the Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association unless it scraps plans for a 32-team Club World Cup next summer.
The World Leagues Association and Fifpro have written a joint letter to Fifa president Gianni Infantino demanding the “rescheduling” of the new competition, in which both Manchester City and Chelsea are due to take part.
Threatening legal action if Fifa’s council fails to bow to their demands when it meets in Bangkok next week, the organisations have also called for a review of the governing body’s plan to resurrect the Intercontinental Cup between the holders of the Champions League and Copa Libertadores.
The letter, seen by Telegraph Sport, was sent last week, days after Premier League chief executive Richard Masters condemned the lack of consultation over the expansion of international club competitions amid a mounting revolt against the resulting fixture congestion.
The letter accuses Fifa of having “made unilateral decisions that benefit its own competitions and commercial interests, while negatively affecting national leagues and players” and of having “ignored repeated attempts by leagues and unions to engage on this”.
It adds: “As a result of Fifa’s recent strategy of expanding its own competitions, the calendar is now beyond saturation, to the point that national leagues are unable to properly organise their competitions, resulting in economic harm, whereas players are being pushed beyond their limits, with significant injury risks and impacts on their welfare and fundamental rights. Leagues and players cannot simply be expected to ‘adapt’ to Fifa’s decisions, which are driven by Fifa’s business strategy.”
Fifa has been approached for comment.