After more than a year of uncertainty and criticism, the FIFA Club World Cup began in Miami on Saturday, and soccer might never be the same.
At least that is what FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been telling anyone who would listen.
“This tournament will be the start of something historic that will change our sport for the better,” he said last week as part of an exhausting schedule of public engagements to drum up interest in the month-long event staged across 11 cities in the US.
Photo: REUTERS
Soccer’s newest tournament is what the sport has been waiting for, Infantino said, and on Saturday, despite considerable pushback and obstacles, he turned his personal passion project into a reality.
The Swiss lawyer, who holds one of the most powerful positions in the world as head of soccer’s governing body, was on hand at a largely full Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, to watch Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami draw 0-0 with Egyptian team Al-Ahly in the opening game of his super-sized Club World Cup.
The match might have been underwhelming, but the occasion, which began with a lavish opening ceremony featuring music, dance routines and fireworks, was a moment of pride for Infantino and proof of his influence over the most popular sport on the planet.
Despite his assertions, it is not clear how much soccer wanted another elite tournament, but this was his baby, so much so that his name is etched not once, but twice, onto a giant golden trophy crafted by Tiffany & Co that would be lifted by the winner on July 13.
It has gone ahead against the backdrop of legal challenges in Europe, threats of strike action from players and fears of injury and burnout for the biggest stars.
There have been concerns about overreach by FIFA, which has traditionally focused on national team soccer, and the detrimental impact a new club competition would have on domestic leagues.
However, nothing was going to stand in the way of Infantino’s plans to expand the Club World Cup from its previous guise as a seven-team mid-season mini tournament to a 32-team extravaganza that could one day rival the UEFA Champions League and English Premier League as one of the most popular and wealthiest competitions in the world.
Time would tell if it lives up to Infantino’s billing, but he has navigated the biggest hurdle of all by getting the inaugural edition off the ground.
It is locked into the calendar — every four years — and teams such as Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain have already qualified for the next edition in 2029.
“Maybe not now in its first edition, but it will become an incredibly important competition to win,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said.
He might have a point. Peculiarly, and despite the global nature of soccer, the club game has largely been restricted to continental competition, aside from the previous guise of the Club World Cup, which was often looked on as little more than an exhibition.
However, it remains unclear how much of an appetite there is for another soccer tournament in a calendar that has reached saturation point.
So a crowd of more than 60,000 at the Hard Rock Stadium likely came as a relief to FIFA, although it is not known how many of those in attendance paid anything like the US$349 being quoted for seats in December last year.
FIFA has not offered definitive numbers on the number of tickets sold for the tournament as a whole, and prices were slashed as the opening game approached, but there were only pockets of empty seats in the stands, with many red-shirted fans of Al Ahly in attendance.
“We’ve been looking forward to it for a long time,” said Peter Sadek, a fan originally from Egypt and now living in Orlando. “At least 50 more just from our area [are coming]. It’s been bubbling up for a long time, and you can see how many are here.”
Other Al-Ahly fans had traveled directly from Egypt, with red shirts outnumbering the pink of Miami in parts of the stadium.
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