Opinion | The blatant issues with the Club World Cup | OneFootball

FIFA officially kicked off the newly refurbished Club World Cup last weekend.

Upon planning this summer of football, the governing body marketed the tournament as the world’s best fighting it out to stake the claim of being the best team in the world. What FIFA perhaps didn’t count on was the attitude towards the tournament by the players, fans, and teams.

The opening match of the tournament saw Egypt’s Al Ahly SC play out a bore draw against Inter Miami (who themselves have never won a major continental trophy).

Since then, we’ve witnessed Bayern Munich smash a team of plumbers, salesmen, and dentists 10-0, PSG beat Atletico Madrid 4-0, and Porto draw 0-0 with Palmeiras.

And the big outcome from the opening weekend? The abundance of empty seats in the stadiums.

FIFA Flash Sale

It’s one thing that FIFA didn’t count on – the fans.

Prior to the tournament, the governing body quickly slashed prices of matchday tickets due to a lack of ticket sales. There are two key reasons for this.

The first is that the matchday prices before the sale were ridiculously expensive. Taking the average income from each of the clubs’ countries represented in the tournament, paying hundreds of dollars for a ticket only amplifies the chasm of wealth between those who rule football and those who love it.

Having watched two games at the Club World Cup myself, the endless rows of empty seats just tarnish the seriousness of the competition. Whilst having an effect on the atmosphere, it also gives the impression that this is just a pre-season tournament before the real football returns.

This is very much the attitude of the majority of European-based fans. There have been very few fans from Europeans clubs who have travelled over for the tournament. Historically, teams within UEFA have not given any format of this competition any serious thought. In recent years, clubs in UEFA have sent over a mixed team of youngsters and have more often than not still won the tournament. Back home, fans were hardly lining the streets for an open-top bus parade.

To help combat this, FIFA’s new ruling within this summer format means that clubs must send a certain number of players from their first team. Though it means more stars at the tournament, the core fan base of these clubs (particularly in Europe) simply do not care.

South American Interest

One continent that is taking this seriously is South America. In comparison to their European counterparts, clubs in South America have often taken this tournament to heart.

There is the belief that these clubs often have a chip on their shoulder and are more determined to show European clubs that they don’t always have the best teams/players.

For example, the four Brazilian clubs in the Club World Cup were given a month off from their league commitments in order to properly prepare for the competition. The idea of a team in the Premier League or Bundesliga doing that would be completely alien, not to mention the fan protests that would follow.

Infantino’s Legacy

The success of this competition, as well as next year’s World Cup, will determine Infantino’s legacy as the head of FIFA.

Those on social media may have seen clips and images of him hanging out with famous streamer iShowSpeed over the weekend. While this could be seen as great for FIFA and engaging with the next generation of football fans, what it actually means for football itself could be much more damaging.

It feels as though FIFA is consistently trying to reinvent the game, tweaking rules here and there when the vast majority of fans globally don’t see the appeal.

From VAR to the Club World Cup, as well well the ever-growing number of teams at the World Cup, football is going through a period of rapid change.

What the lasting effects of these changes are, only time will tell. For those who adore the more traditional format of the game may be left in the dark, reminiscing about days gone by.

GGFN | Jamie Allen