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FIFA Club World Cup 2025 ends with many question marks. |
Captain Reece James also chimed in. For Chelsea’s American owners – who have backed the idea from the start – it was a heartening statement. But for the rest of European football, and particularly the Premier League, it was a clear alarm bell.
Club World Cup - FIFA's "Super League"
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has made no secret of his ambition to turn the Club World Cup into the new pinnacle of club football, a globalized stage where the world’s elite compete and wield power. But to do that, he needs more than polite words of support.
Mr Infantino needs money – and needs domestic leagues, as well as UEFA, to bend. Both are facing resistance.
The new Club World Cup – featuring 32 teams, hosted in the US and secretly funded by Saudi Arabia – is a rebirth of the failed “European Super League” of 2021. But this time, it is not being strongly opposed by fans, because it is not coming directly from the clubs, but from FIFA – the organization that still claims to be “for global football”.
But the essence remains the same. This is still an attempt to bring together the world's biggest clubs in a separate tournament, breaking away from the traditional order that has existed for the past century.
It was no coincidence that the only person to publicly congratulate FIFA after the tournament was Florentino Perez – Real Madrid’s tycoon and the Super League’s staunchest architect. His presence, and the quiet backing of Todd Boehly-style owners, suggested that the Club World Cup was more than just a new tournament – it was a political tool in a global game.
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Chelsea won the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. |
What worries the Premier League and other domestic leagues is not the fact that the Club World Cup is currently not attracting audiences or attracting media attention. The biggest fear is the future that Infantino is painting. A football system in which domestic leagues are just the back yard, with the Club World Cup as the real destination in terms of finance, reputation and power.
The international calendar is already overloaded. Fifpro, the player protection organization, along with 39 domestic leagues, including the Premier League, have taken FIFA to court for disrupting the schedule and endangering player health. But Infantino is not stopping. He continues to spend money, mobilizing resource-rich investors such as Saudi Arabia, to maintain the political motivation for his personal ambitions.
Ironically, the FA – the organisation that backed Infantino in 2016 to escape the “Blatter era” – is now one of the most passive entities. The FA has no idea when, where or how the next Club World Cup will be organised. It has a seat on the FIFA Council, but is effectively just a spectator. And the Premier League, unable to even negotiate directly with FIFA, is forced to take each other to court.
An underground world of power deals
Infantino is running FIFA like a “global auction house.” Saudi Arabia got the 2034 World Cup, the US got the 2025 Club World Cup (also funded by Saudi Arabia). Chelsea’s Todd Boehly walked alongside Infantino at the trophy presentation ceremony, and the FIFA boss was not afraid to appear with US President Donald Trump in the middle of the stadium. These images say more than any official statement.
The silence from the major football federations - England, France, Germany - further shows the level of stalemate. They cannot control FIFA, nor dare to protest publicly because they are planning to host other tournaments such as the 2035 Women's World Cup.
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President Infantino satisfied with FIFA Club World Cup 2025. |
Meanwhile, Infantino has increasingly consolidated his power, not only through politics but also by attracting wealthy football owners who are not loyal to the traditional model of European football.
If FIFA continues to organize the Club World Cup on a two-year cycle, while the Champions League continues to operate in its new expanded format, then only one thing is certain: only two of the three levels of football - domestic, continental, global - can coexist. And the weakest, most easily sacrificed level is the national championships - the roots, the soul and the "blood" that has nourished football for more than a century.
Infantino has staked his entire political fortunes on the Club World Cup. He has promised a women’s version, although the year and schedule are still unclear. He may lack the crowds and support from European leagues, but he has no shortage of money – and no shortage of loyalty from a powerful minority.
The question is no longer: “Will the Club World Cup surpass the Champions League?”, but: “Who will have to sacrifice to make it grow?”.
The Premier League - the symbol of domestic football's power - is the most immediate target. And if the federations fail to act, the price to pay will not only be backwardness, but possibly the collapse of the current footballing order.
Source: https://znews.vn/club-world-cup-la-hiem-hoa-tiem-tang-cho-premier-league-post1568721.html
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