- Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Real Madrid will not take part in the Club World Cup.
- He expects other clubs to follow suit due to the lack of funding on offer.
- For all the latest news and updates from Germany, follow Mail Sport’s Euro 2024 WhatsApp channel.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that the Spanish giants intend to decline an invitation to next year’s Club World Cup.
The tournament will expand to 32 teams and be held over four weeks in the United States next summer after the 2024-25 season.
Madrid had been expected to be one of the favourites to participate having won the tournament five times in the past nine years, but Ancelotti has been adamant that the team will not take part because FIFA has not provided sufficient funding, and believes others will follow suit.
“FIFA forgets that the clubs and the players do not take part in its competitions,” Ancelotti said in an interview with Il Giornale newspaper. Relebo.
“Each Real Madrid match is worth 20 million euros (£17 million) and they want to pay us that amount for the whole tournament. It’s not possible.”
“Real Madrid, along with other clubs, will decline the invitation.”
FIFA’s decision to expand the Club World Cup has been criticised in recent weeks over concerns about player welfare.
Officials from the Premier League and La Liga have threatened to boycott the competition and accused FIFA of “killing football” by adding more matches to an already packed football calendar.
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PFA president Maheta Molango even threatened to take legal action if FIFA did not back down from its plans to expand the Club World Cup.
“Those who run the sport need to listen,” he told The Sun. “If they don’t listen then we as the union have a responsibility to take action against the players and legal action is the next step.”
“The governing bodies have had numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful discussions with us on this matter but they have failed to do so. The current workload of players is unsustainable.”
Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano also believes the move to 32 teams is part of a “crisis” over the fixture schedule and suggested the club may consider whether it is in their best interests to include the Premier League champions.
But PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi has no plans to withdraw his team from the competition, insisting the Club World Cup will be “bigger than the World Cup”.