Do clubs want the "controversial" FIFA Club World Cup?
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00:00Okay, we're around an hour away from the draw for the FIFA Club World Cup which
00:05takes place in the United States next summer. The tournament has been
00:08surrounded by controversy though ever since it was announced and you can see
00:11our chief reporter rejoins me on set now, Carvey. Just tell us a little bit
00:15more, why has it been so controversial this one? It depends if you are anti
00:22FIFA or pro FIFA. Now if you are anti FIFA, I think it's fair to say most
00:30people in this sort of area of the world, part of the world are anti FIFA, would
00:36say why do we need this competition? This is a joke. Our players are already
00:42playing too many games. Why is FIFA getting involved in club football? FIFA
00:47historically has a World Cup for countries, not clubs. Clubs leave it to
00:52the leagues, leave it to a UEFA for instance. FIFA is just doing this to make
00:58more money. Gianni Infantino is on a like sort of power trip. He's looked at the
01:04fact that UEFA are richer than FIFA because they have the Champions League
01:07that brings in money every year as well as the Euros, whereas FIFA only really
01:12have the World Cup once every four years. So he's looking for another cash cow and
01:17he's found it with this new tournament every four years. It's going to be the
01:21World Cup but instead of countries it's going to be clubs. It is a ridiculous
01:26idea. That is what people who are anti FIFA would say. People who are pro FIFA
01:31and there are people around the world who are pro FIFA outside Europe, what
01:38they would say is imagine you're in our shoes, imagine you're a football
01:43association in Asia or Africa or South America. All our best players are being
01:49bought by clubs in Europe. Then they play in the Champions League and the
01:56European leagues. Our football fans are deprived of watching their own players
02:01and also they sit in front of TVs watching European leagues and the
02:07Champions League. We want a competition as well. We want to grow and develop
02:12football. We want our best teams to play in a competition as good as the
02:17Champions League and FIFA will say we're listening to these clubs all around the
02:22world and that is why we've got this new tournament. And all those people who say
02:28we are just about money, remember we're a non-profit organisation. So all the
02:33money that you say we make, we reinvest in developing the game around the world.
02:39So it all depends if you're pro FIFA or anti FIFA whether you think this is a
02:44good idea. Okay so you just told me what they're listening to but are they
02:47listening to the players when they say we're burnt out? Because we've already
02:50had that haven't we from Rodri this season already. Yeah I mean this is a
02:54really serious issue and it's so serious actually that the European leagues and
02:58players unions are taking legal action against FIFA at the European Commission
03:03over the international match calendar. They are saying FIFA did not consult us
03:08properly when it came to the international match calendar. FIFA would
03:12say that yes we did but look this is a real big debate in football at the
03:16moment. How much we are expecting our top players to play and if you look at what
03:22is going to happen for instance over the next few months we're going to have the
03:25draw in Miami in less than an hour for the Club World Cup. I don't know why me
03:30and you are not there. I know. I've got to ask the boss. I think Miami's nice this
03:35time of year but anyway let's be serious. Then on May the 25th the Premier
03:39League season ends. You've got May the 28th Conference League final. May the 31st
03:44Champions League final and just two weeks after the Champions League final
03:49for instance Manchester City players if they play in the Champions League final
03:53two weeks later they'll have to start playing in the Club World Cup. That lasts
03:57a month. The final is in July the 13th in New York. If you make it there you can
04:04make it anywhere and then less than a month later after the final the Premier
04:08League season kicks off. You look at this if you're a Manchester City player for
04:13instance and you think where am I going to get a break? What is happening to
04:18world football? The Champions League is expanding. There are more and more games
04:22everywhere. Surely this is a tournament too far. Do you know what FIFA would say?
04:27FIFA would say we understand this is a big issue but let's be fair we are not
04:34the problem here because if you look at all the games that are played around the
04:37world only something like one or two percent of them are FIFA games. All the
04:43other games are league games or continental competition games for
04:49instance UEFA games. So FIFA is saying yes this is a problem but it is a
04:53problem you should be speaking to the leagues and the Confederations about
04:57instead of constantly criticising us about it. But they've just put in another
05:02tournament. But they would say we've got a World Cup
05:07that's every four years. We're not the ones who've got you know 38 game leagues.
05:13We're not the ones who are expanding the Champions League. We're not the ones who
05:17are making clubs play two three times every week. What we've got is just a
05:22World Cup every four years and now we're going to have a World Cup for
05:25clubs every four years and this is what the clubs want. That's what they
05:30would say. All right well you make a good case for them. Just explain why
05:34people at home are saying hang on a minute you're telling me it's
05:36Manchester City and Chelsea and it's not the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal and
05:40other teams. Why are Manchester City in this draw and Chelsea and just
05:44explain how the draw works. Manchester City and Chelsea have got in because
05:48they have won the Champions League over the past four years. That is how they
05:54have qualified. Now I hear what you're saying because some people would say how
05:58can you have a Club World Cup next summer and if Liverpool win the title
06:01for instance and Arsenal win the Champions League they won't be in it. I
06:05don't know maybe that's something they need to look at in the future. When it
06:08comes to how the draw is going to work good news for traditionalists it is an
06:12old-fashioned 32 team tournament. So you'll have eight groups of four. The top
06:18two will go into the round of 16. There'll be a quarterfinal, semi-final
06:22and then the final in New York, New Jersey at the MetLife Stadium and the
06:26good news is no third place playoff.