FIFA president Gianni Infantino is doubling down on his Club World Cup plans with a proposal for an expanded annual tournament, despite UEFA’s resistance to any competition that challenges the supremacy of the Champions League, a person with knowledge of the talks said.
The revised proposal amends an initial plan to play a 24-team Club World Cup every four years.
The new format is to be discussed at a FIFA Council meeting in Rwanda tomorrow, the person said on condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential.
UEFA has stymied Infantino’s attempts since March to gain approval for the new FIFA competitions, which would have US$25 billion of income guaranteed by an international consortium.
The proposals, which include a global Nations League as a mini-World Cup every two years, were formed by FIFA to eliminate two little-regarded competitions: the annual seven-team Club World Cup held in December and the Confederations Cup for international teams held every four years.
The proposal only covers men’s soccer.
The original plan said a 24-team Club World Cup would be played from June to July every fourth year from 2021 to 2033.
Discussions in recent months with global soccer leaders have encouraged FIFA to propose keeping the annual format, but with more teams, the person said, adding that Infantino favored a July-to-August event, but is open to another slot.
Playing in the northern hemisphere summer would pose a threat to the annual pre-season friendly tournament for Europe’s leading clubs, which is organized by Relevent Sports.
Infantino would not use the meeting in Kigali to gain approval for the final configuration of competition formats, but he wants to secure agreement on the principle that the existing Club World Cup and Confederations Cup need to be replaced, the person said.
Infantino is pressing ahead with trying to implement the biggest revamp of soccer tournaments this century after gaining support from the regional confederations apart from UEFA, the person said.
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