European Champions Real Madrid have clarified their stance on the revamped FIFA Club World Cup, a day after manager Carlo Ancelotti had said they will not take part in the competition.
The club stated that “at no time has its participation in the new Club World Cup been questioned, Our club will take part as planned in this official competition, which we face with pride and excitement to once again make our millions of fans around the world dream about a new trophy”.
Ancelotti, in an interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale, had said that they, along with some unnamed clubs, will not take part in the competition due to financial reasons.
“Players and clubs won’t participate in that tournament,” Ancelotti said. “One single Real Madrid game is worth €20 million, and FIFA want to give us that amount for the entire competition. Negative.“
However, Ancelotti clarified his statement stating his words were not interpreted in the way he intended. Ancelotti took to social media to clarify his stance regarding the tournament, “In my Il Giornale interview, my words regarding the FIFA Club World Cup have not been interpreted in the way I intended” he said.
“Nothing could be further from my interest than rejecting the possibility of playing in a tournament which I consider could be a great opportunity to continue fighting for big trophies with Real Madrid.” he added.
The last FIFA Club World Cup was held in Saudi Arabia with seven teams taking part. Manchester City won the competition beating the Brazilian side Fluminense in the final by 4-0.
FIFA Club World Cup New Format
The FIFA World is set to take place in the United States in June and July 2025.
The new format of the FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 teams participating from the Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, out of which 29 clubs have already qualified. Twelve teams will take part from UEFA, four each from CONCACAF, CAF, and the AFC, one from Oceanic, and one from Hosts USA.
There are two pathways to qualify for the tournament. First is the ‘Champions pathway’ in which the clubs winning their continental club competitions will qualify and the ‘ranking pathway’ which will be based on clubs’ previous performances.
This initiative has been taken by FIFA to match the success of continental club competitions like the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
