November 6 – The ongoing dispute over player workload and burnout has hardly been eased by rules just announced by FIFA for next summer’s expanded Club World Cup.
Among the regulations for the 32-team, 63-game tournament that runs from June 15 to July 13, is a requirement that all clubs field their strongest teams, with sanctions threatened if they refuse to do so.
Also included is a provision that requires players to report “3-5 days” beforehand, leaving many of them precious little time for recovery at the end of a packed 2024-25 season.
The tournament, driven by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, has led to growing unrest within the game with players’ unions and league associations taking legal action against FIFA in the European courts and threats of strike action.
Despite FIFA recently setting up a multi-stakeholder Task Force to discuss player welfare in an attempt to stave off mounting pressure, the new regulations will hardly strike a mood of conciliation and co-operation into opponents of Infantino’s pet project.
With an international break scheduled between June 6-10 next year for World Cup qualifiers, FIFA’s insistence on clubs arriving in the US three to five days early can only serve to heighten concerns.
With the Champions League final due to be staged in Munich on May 31 – a week before the international break – it raises the prospect of some players going from a Champions League final, into an international round of World Cup qualifiers, and then the Club World Cup with no prospect a rest.
Also in the rules, FIFA will let Club World Cup teams change their squad list mid-tournament, from June 27-July 3, to “replace players whose contracts have naturally expired.”
However, players can represent only one team at the tournament and would not be eligible to transfer to another side later in the competition.
FIFA has yet to confirm tournament prize money or details of the tournament draw, which is expected early in December.
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