Bangkok, May 17 (EFE).- FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the next Club World Cup, which will be held between June and July 2025 in the United States with 32 teams, amid criticism from football players’ associations.
“FIFA is organizing around one percent of the games of the top clubs in the world. When it comes to the national teams, it is very similar,” Infantino said in Bangkok during his speech at the FIFA Congress on Friday.
“If you look at all the national team games around the world, we still have between 1 and 2 percent of the matches which are organized by FIFA. All other matches, 98 to 99 percent, are organized by other organizations, by different leagues, associations and confederations.
“With this 1 or 2 percent matches that FIFA organizes, FIFA is financing football all over the world. The revenue that we generate are not just going to few clubs in one country. The revenue that we generate are going to 211 countries. No other organization does that,” he added.
“I hope that these figures… probably will stop this futile debate,” said the FIFA chief, highlighting the distribution of its income.
Earlier this month, the International Union of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO) and the World Leagues Association, in a letter, asked FIFA to withdraw the international calendar and commit to rescheduling the 2025 Club World Cup to avoid saturation of matches and protect footballers.
The unions then argued that FIFA’s strategy with its competitions negatively disrupted the football industry, endangering national leagues and clubs, and even warned that they would take “legal action” against the governing body of world football. EFE
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