FIFA have been threatened with legal over the extended Club World Cup, starting in 2025, with both the player’s union (FIFPro) and the World League’s Organisation, writing a joint letter to the football mother body.
The extended 32-team tournament is set to take place between 15 June and 13 July, and Mamelodi Sundowns are one of four African teams who have qualified for it.
However, it would add another tournament into an already packed calendar, while the old version of the Club World Cup is also supposed to run under the new name as Intercontinental Cup.
According to The Times, the letter, from the World Leagues general secretary Jerome Perlemuter and his Fifpro counterpart Stephane Burchkalter, was sent to the Fifa president Gianni Infantino last week.
“Should Fifa refuse to formally commit to resolving the issues . . . at its upcoming council, we shall be compelled to advise our members on the options available to them, both individually and collectively, to proactively safeguard their interests. These options include legal action against Fifa, on which we have now commissioned external expert advice,” The Times cite the letter.
“Fifa has continually and consistently made unilateral decisions that benefit its own competitions and commercial interests, while negatively affecting national leagues and players. Over a significant period, Fifa has ignored repeated attempts by leagues and unions to engage on this issue.
“As a result of Fifa’s recent strategy of expanding its own competitions, the calendar is now beyond saturation, to the point that national leagues are unable to properly organise their competitions, resulting in economic harm, whereas players are being pushed beyond their limits, with significant injury risks and impacts on their welfare and fundamental rights.
“If Fifa extends its own competitions, it is incumbent upon Fifa to adjust accordingly. Imposing the burden of adaptation on national leagues and players is inherently abusive.”
The Times further stated FIFA has been approached for a comment but didn’t reply at time of publishing.