Controversy and novelty, can FIFA recreate the World Cup?

Xinhua News Agency, Miami, June 14th. On the 14th, the opening match of the first new version of the FIFA Club World Cup (hereinafter referred to as the "Club World Cup") is about to begin. Miami International, where Messi is located, takes the lead in playing against Cairo Nationals. This freshman event, FIFA has been dedicated to creating, will be tested in the dazzling sunshine of Florida.

With the vision of reconstructing the club's football event pattern, a new version of the Club World Cup came into being; however, since its establishment, this new event has always been controversial over issues such as player fatigue and competition calendars; in the face of resistance, FIFA not only spent 1 billion US dollars (1 US dollar is approximately RMB 7.18) to participate in the competition, but also launched a number of reform measures that may change the operating mode of football events, and its determination to overcome all difficulties to create a new flagship event is self-evident.

What is the new meaning of the new version of the Club World Cup? Can it be the next World Cup?

Controversy and Game

In the past, the Club World Cup was participated by the championship club teams of various continents every year, and has a history of decades since its predecessor, the "Toyota Cup". However, due to the few participating teams and the suspense of the game, the influence of the old version of the Club World Cup was relatively limited.

In 2019, FIFA announced the reform of the Club World Cup. Affected by factors such as the epidemic, the restructuring plan has been revised several times, and finally decided to change the Club World Cup to 32 teams at the end of 2022, and will be held every four years. At the end of 2023, FIFA announced that the new version of the Club World Cup will be held in the United States from June to July 2025, and plans to build it into another flagship event outside the World Cup.

Talking about the original intention of reform, FIFA President Infantino said: "We must create global events, not just a few players and clubs from a very small number of countries (regions). The Club World Cup opens its doors to clubs around the world, displays their brands, and helps their players and teams become better."

According to the competition system, the new version of the Club World Cup is: 12 in Europe, 6 in South America, 4 in Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, 1 in Oceania, plus the host team. FIFA said that the new version of the Club World Cup represents FIFA's vision of "promoting the true globalization of football", and improves the quality and level of club competitions by providing a world-class platform for club teams on various continents to compete in the same game.

According to reports, there are a total of players from 81 different countries and regions participating in this Club World Cup, and many of them are participating in the top FIFA event for the first time.

However, this is destined to be a reform that satisfies everyone. Most of the critics come from Europe, who believe that the addition of new big events brings additional workloads to elite players and increases the risk of injury. The possible changes in the competition calendar caused by the new version of the Club World Cup will also affect the event arrangements of the European League.

The European branch of the International Federation of Professional Football Players (FIFPRO) and the European Football League, an organization composed of more than 30 European leagues, filed a lawsuit with the European Commission to oppose the hosting of the new version of the Club World Cup. Behind the controversy is the long-standing power and economic game between FIFA and European football. As a gathering place for top players and clubs, European football has always dominated club competitions. The rising influence of the Champions League has brought huge commercial benefits to UEFA. Since the 2021-2022 season, UEFA's revenue per fiscal year exceeds US$4 billion. UEFA revenue will also increase significantly in the year of hosting the European Championship.

Open the FIFA financial report, and the source of income is highly dependent on the four-year World Cup. In the four-year financial cycle from 2019 to 2022, FIFA's total revenue was US$7.568 billion, of which the 2022 Qatar World Cup revenue was US$5.769 billion, accounting for more than 70% of the revenue. In this non-World Cup year in 2021, the annual revenue was US$766 million.

Although as a nonprofit, FIFA may not pursue profits. However, creating a new flagship event and finding the second growth point outside the World Cup is crucial for FIFA to improve its own economic stability. FIFA expects the new version of the Club World Cup to earn more than $2 billion.

The resources of broadcasters and sponsors are limited after all, and FIFA is ambitious to launch the Club World Cup, so there are naturally people who are worried that their own game attention and revenue will be affected, so it is not surprising that they have different opinions.

Concessions and novelty

For FIFA, external pressure is continuous, and the reform of the Club World Cup can be said to be only successful and not failure.

On the one hand, FIFA is led by legendary coach and FIFA Global Development Director Wenger to meet with FIFPRO, clubs and leagues to discuss protecting the well-being of players. On the other hand, FIFA has set a record $1 billion in participating prize, enhancing the attractiveness of the Club World Cup. For comparison, the total prize money for the 2022 Qatar World Cup is US$440 million.

Infantino said: "The bonus distribution model of this year's Club World Cup reflects the peak level of club football, which is the largest prize pool in the history of the tournament-based football competition."

He also introduced that FIFA will use all the revenue of the 2025 Club World Cup to support the development of the club. In addition to the winnings of participating teams, this Club World Cup will also issue a solidarity bonus of US$250 million to unsubscribed clubs around the world. "No event can benefit so many clubs." FIFA also reached an agreement with broadcaster DAZN to broadcast the Club World Cup for free. "We want to make sure that everyone in the world can watch every game of the Club World Cup for free," Infantino said.

Sponsors, according to the reporter, FIFA adopted the strategy of "bundled sales" of Club World Cup and World Cup, which changed the situation of early sponsorships being cold. By the time the Club World Cup started, the number of official partners has increased to 10..

A series of concessions have stabilized the basic balance of the team, fans and sponsors for FIFA, and ensured the smooth start of the Club World Cup. This new event without burdens and traditions has also become a test field for reform.

FIFA announced that the law enforcement recorder will be worn for referees for the first time during the Club World Cup, and the footage shot by the recorder will be broadcast live through the official broadcast team of the Club World Cup; FIFA will use the newly developed algorithm in large football matches for the first time, and automatically collect live broadcast data based on traceable data; game substitutions have also ushered in major reforms, and each team will receive a tablet computer before the game, replacing traditional paper and manual communication to simplify the substitution process and realize information synchronization.

FIFA has also canceled the traditional post-match mixed interview area setting and changed to a post-match interview station, and equipped international media with translators in the interview station. Each team must choose some players to go on stage to receive interviews. FIFA said this will change the situation in which some media were unable to obtain interview opportunities in mixed-job areas in the past.

Although the fact that big-name clubs are absent and some games are cold, it still makes people clearly realize that the Club World Cup still has a long way to go before becoming the next World Cup. But it is undeniable that football needs to seek development in change. The reform of the Club World Cup is such a new opportunity.