With under three months to go until Fifa’s revamped Club World Cup kicks off in Miami, the $2bn project is facing a fresh dispute over which teams will be allowed to compete.
Fifa, football’s global governing body, said at the end of last week that Mexican side Club León had been removed from the contest because of rules preventing two teams with the same owner competing against each other. León is owned by the same group as CF Pachuca, another Mexican team that also qualified.
The expulsion is the latest snag in the build-up to what Fifa president Gianni Infantino has billed “the pinnacle of global club football”.
Due to be held in June and July, the Club World Cup is Fifa’s attempt to reduce its financial reliance on the men’s World Cup. The month-long tournament, an updated and much enlarged version of a long-standing exhibition tournament, will be hosted in cities across the US. There will be 63 matches involving 32 teams.
It is also being presented by Fifa as a means of spreading some of football’s revenues — still heavily concentrated in western Europe — more widely, and boosting interest ahead of next year’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. Fifa is forecasting at least $2bn in revenue from the cup, half of which will cover the costs of staging it, with the rest going to participating clubs.
“From a global perspective this is much needed. At the end of the day, there’s only one organisation that can give you the title of world champion, whether you’re a national team or whether you’re a club team. And that’s Fifa,” said Victor Montagliani, head of Concacaf, the sport’s North, Central America and Caribbean governing body and a Fifa vice-president.
Yet the tournament has had a bumpy few months. Domestic leagues and players’ unions have launched legal action against Fifa, saying the new event harms player welfare and puts more pressure on the crowded match calendar.
The $1bn prize pot has attracted complaints that it will distort the finances of national leagues by handing large sums to a handful of teams. Top teams from Europe are guaranteed $38.5mn just for taking part, South American sides have been promised $15.2mn, while teams from North America, Africa and Asia will get $9.55mn. Auckland FC, the sole representative from Oceania, will receive just $3.5mn for participating.
Further prize money comes from winning games and reaching later stages, with the champion in line to win as much as $125mn. Fifa has said it plans to distribute $250mn to non-participating clubs if it hits certain commercial targets.
Teams have qualified either by winning a regional cup contest, such as Europe’s Champions League, or through a complex ranking system that measures performance in national and regional competitions.
Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona, three of the most popular teams in the world, did not qualify, while Fifa has faced criticism for giving a place to Inter Miami, home of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
Miami won the most points during the regular season, but LA Galaxy were crowned US champions after winning the play-offs. Fifa said it considered a range of qualification criteria in consultation with the US league.
León, which qualified by winning the Concacaf Champions Cup in 2023, has said it will appeal against its removal — tickets for its opening fixture against Chelsea had already gone on sale. Fifa has said a replacement will be announced “in due course”.
The decision to eject León highlights the complex web of ownership across international football, where investors have stitched together sprawling networks of teams. Many of those due to play in the Club World Cup are part of a multi-club group, including Manchester City, Botafogo and RB Salzburg.
On the commercial front, broadcasters and sponsors have been reluctant to back an event with little name recognition, particularly as many had not budgeted for additional spending during what was due to be a relatively quiet summer for sport.
Some in the footballing world have also voiced doubts about how many people will tune in to watch top European club teams face relative minnows from countries such as South Korea, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.
However, some earlier stumbles have been overcome. In December, Fifa sealed a $1bn deal with streaming company DAZN to show the cup globally free-to-view.
DAZN, which lost $1.4bn in 2023, said it plans to generate revenue from advertising and sponsorship to cover the cost of the rights. Chief executive Shay Segev said he expects up to 300mn fans to download the DAZN app to watch the tournament.
In February, DAZN agreed a $1bn investment deal with Saudi Arabia state-backed fund Surj Sports. Saudi Arabia will host the Fifa men’s World Cup in 2034.
François Godard at Enders Analysis said the tournament had proved a “hard sell” to both traditional broadcasters and streamers, and that the DAZN deal was the “best Fifa could get” after pressure from participating clubs to lock something in. “The Club World Cup has a grand name, but it looks more like a promotional event,” said Godard.
After a slow start, Fifa has signed four sponsors for the cup, with Chinese electronics maker Hisense and Bank of America joining long-term commercial partners Coca-Cola and AB InBev. The most recent World Cup in Qatar had fourteen. One person involved in the competition said the target for the commercial programme was up to a dozen sponsors.
Fifa has previously said the interest among sponsors was “very strong” and that it expected to have a “fully sold-out commercial programme”.
While the Club World Cup existed as a smaller event for many years, Infantino has made turning it into a showcase event a cornerstone of his tenure. The new trophy for the tournament, to be held every four years, features his signature twice.
Last month, Infantino took the trophy — a dish made up of concentric rings that can be unlocked by a golden key — to the Oval Office to show Donald Trump, and invited the US president to present it to the champions on July 13. “It’s beautiful,” said Trump. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
