Write an article about Infantino’s grubby cash grab bodes ill for real World Cup .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from
Unwanted, untimely and underwhelming.
First impressions of the Club World Cup (CWC), the grubby cash grab that is being shown on mercifully few of our screens.
Or is that being kind?
How about “a contrived vanity project?” Or a “harbinger of doom?”
It’s early days in FIFA’s blatant attempt to wrest control of club football and milk the proceeds.
But we’ve seen enough already for both descriptions to be used in respected journals.
Sparse crowds, players wilting in the heat and widespread ignorance that it’s even taking place.
There’s a huge gulf in class between the regions with Oceania’s Auckland FC part-timers getting hammered 10-0 by Bayern Munich.
The result made a mockery of FIFA’s claim to have “the best 32 teams in the world.”
Several Kiwis told of having trouble getting time off work to play!
Another bone of contention was the brazen manoeuvring to ensure that Lionel Messi is there even though his team, Inter Miami, didn’t qualify by the normal rules.
He squeezed in as Inter won a popularity contest called “The Supporters’ Shield.”
But FIFA couldn’t swing it for Cristiano Ronaldo whose contract with Al Nassr expires at the end of this month.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino openly pleaded: “If any club is watching and is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup…”
Al Nassr had failed to qualify, but fierce cross-town rivals Al Hillal had.
However, a switch was beyond the pale for the Saudis, even though both clubs are owned by the Public Investment Fund.
“It would have been completely counter-intuitive,” said Saudi Pro League CEO Esteve Calzada. But it was acceptable to Infantino.
Then there’s the “dynamic pricing” – another name for ripping off fans – that have seen tickets tumble from hundreds of dollars to single-digit giveaways.
Kick-off times favouring European TV audiences over locals are also worth a mention, as is the craven acceptance of discarding anti-discriminatory material, at the behest of the US hosts.
We all know FIFA’s anti-racism pronouncements are a sham, but at least they should have the decency to pretend.
And making a big deal about ending it almost invites a resurgence.
One scribe even compared CWC to LIV Golf, another unnecessary event that has made a few people very rich but split a sport asunder.
That was based on a grudge by Greg Norman, who got the backing of Saudi Arabia to take on the USPGA.
The CWC is the baby of another narcissist who makes his predecessor Sepp Blatter look like a paragon of virtue.
Infantino, who is known as ‘Johnny’ by US President Donald Trump, already has his proper name laser-inscribed on the hideous-looking trophy not once but twice.
Not content with being boss of world football, he wants a slice of the most lucrative part of the game – the club game.
This creation is designed to become the premier club tournament in the world and overshadow the Champions League.
It may be a quadrennial event like its international counterpart, but every four years, it will kick off days after the Champions League has finished.
It will cast far more than a shadow. It will sap the players’ energy, make them more susceptible to injuries, and even have a knock-on effect on the club season that follows.
It will also spill into a market that is already saturated.
No one asked for this. There already was a CWC that lasted a little over a week and could be won by a seeded champion in just two games.
It was a bit of a joke, but it added a layer of prestige and was slotted into the European calendar at the end of the year.
From the EPL, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, the “holders”, all won it in recent years without much inconvenience.
There has also been a clash with the South American champions which occurred on an irregular basis.
It was taken more seriously by the Libertadores winners, but the world knew where the real quality was, as most of the best players from South America play in Europe.
Although this tournament is “only” in the United States, it’s inevitably seen as something of a trial run for next year’s World Cup.
Expanded to 48 nations, it will also be held in Canada and Mexico.
The prospect of criss-crossing the vast acreage of North America in the searing heat of mid-summer may well deter fans as much as the threat of arrest and deportation is keeping them away this time.
Only part of that is FIFA’s fault, of course, but transportation is sure to add up to a carbon footprint made by giants.
For some small nations, it will be magical just being there, a feat many never dreamed of.
But if the CWC is anything to go by, a lot of work needs to be done to ensure the biggest World Cup in history will be the best.
The debut edition of this format is papering over the cracks and the crackpot with its obscene prize money of US$1 billion – another way it can distort the club seasons that follow.
If Auckland City, for example, walks away with enough to begin paying their players, they might turn pro, and where does that leave the rest of the league’s teams?
Meanwhile, the rich get richer at the business end.
If the CWC is an appetiser, it’s in serious danger of turning football fans and players off the main course.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
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