Sideline Story

Can FIFA Club World Cup equal World Cup frenzy?

FIFA’s revamped Club World Cup will unveil the draw of the participating teams in December after the final berth is taken. What level of excitement can it produce? Why has FIFA insisted on the project amid opposition from some players and clubs? Also in this episode, we give our expectations on the Club World Cup next summer and discuss what organizers can do to avoid too much fatigue for players.

Duration:: 25m
Broadcast on:: 15 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Siteline Starry, your destination for sports news analysis in discussions and background. This week we're going to take a look at the new club World Cup initiated by FIFA. Can it make similar success as the World Cup? What are the controversies behind the tournament? To unpack these questions I'm joined here with my co-hosts, Tanyu and Brandon Yates. - Well, FIFA has announced that they will unveil the official draw of the inaugural club World Cup, World revamped club World Cup in December after the final qualifier is produced between Copa Liberdari's finalists, Atlant Comi Narrow and Portafogo. Well, 32 teams from different continents. I have to confess some of the teams I've never heard of. But still, it brings arguably the best teams from different continents and the regions. And in less than a month we will know how they will be grouped. - Yeah. - Tanyu, I can't say the club World Cup brings the best 32 teams in the world because we all know some European powerhouses are not qualified due to limited births, like Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool and the list goes on. And I would say on paper, some of the teams, I don't see them really put up a real fight against the European powerhouses. So fans are questioning and doubting the quality and competitiveness of these tournaments. So from your side, are you optimistic about this revamped club World Cup? - Well, I think one of the upsides of this new format is enabling those non-European teams to have more say and opportunities to on the international stage. While we are seeing a monopoly of resources from European football, having more teams from across the old continents playing actually play on the same stage is definitely gonna help level the playing field and make the games more entertaining to watch as we get to watch different styles of football. And the games are also gonna get more intense, actually, as we know from under the previous formats, the event only featured seven teams whose strength has a far cry from each other. And now European powerhouses have like Real Madrid, Man City, and also Bayern Munich are all gonna include be included in the revamped event. And also some of the traditionally strong teams in South America, like river plates, Boca Juniors, will also join in. And we may get to see Messi and Neymar compete against each other, right? As the Inter Miami and Al Hilleau are all gonna be included in the event next year. But despite the great idea around it, we got some bad news about the tournament, which is it has no broadcaster yet. And it has only got one sponsor now, which is from China. And I think one of the biggest reasons for this lack of attention now is that many potential sponsors are having their eyes. The bigger prize of the World Cup in 2026, which is also gonna be held in part in the US. And so I think the World Cup as one of the long established and also the most previous prestigious football events is still deemed as one of the most important football events by many. And even as the new club World Cup now has an exciting format, I don't think it can ever reach the heights or the popularity of the World Cup. - Right, can you made his statement? Now Brandon, do you think FIFA can create similar frenzy as the World Cup with this new event? Will you watch the club World Cup as the World Cup? - No, I mean, look, it's definitely an exciting format, but I don't think there's any event in the world ever besides the Olympics that can generate the same intensity and fan support that the FIFA World Cup does. Look, I think it's a little bit unfair to try and say, look, FIFA's trying to generate as much excitement for the club World Cup as they are for the FIFA World Cup because I think, you know, their intention with this competition, I think, well, first of all, I think it's a bit of a, you know, like a practice ride to see how the United States can be as best prepared as possible to host an event like the FIFA World Cup. So I think the timing of this event and it taking place in the US is kind of like, you know, like an out of town preview, you know, before the big opening, which would be the FIFA World Cup. So I think that's going to be interesting to see how, you know, prepared the US facilities are, how prepared the pitches are for football as opposed to, you know, other sports that may be played at those stadiums like American football, baseball, et cetera. And just to see how much interest, I think, particularly from the US, there is in football in general. So I think it's going to be very interesting to see how involved fans in the United States, in particular, get involved in this tournament. But I mean, basically it is a World Cup for football clubs, you know, I mean, it's a global tournament and there's going to be incredibly strong sides, particularly from Europe, taking, you know, participating in a competition where they're going to be facing a lot weaker sides from South America, Asia, Africa, et cetera. But that being said, I think, you know, we have already seen there's been a lot of complaints from European clubs and European passes about the extended schedule and, you know, fatigue with players, et cetera. And we also have that in other international football competitions like the UEFA Nations League and, you know, too many friendlies and that sort of thing. So that's not unheard of at a national level. So there's a lot of similarities between international competitions and this club competition. But with that in mind, I think there's also going to be a lot more stronger performances from the supposedly weaker sides. Because I think, for example, like from South Africa, no mama lodi Sundance are participating and I'm not a fan of Sundance, but because I'm going to see a South African team playing against potentially the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester City, me as a football fan, I will definitely be interested in this tournament that I probably wouldn't have been interested previously. And I also think that a team like mama lodi Sundance might have a greater chance because they're probably playing a lot less football. And they'll also go into this competition thinking, wow, we have this opportunity to showcase our club and our skills against the best teams and the best players in the world. So I think that's going to really raise the performances of a lot of these smaller clubs. So I think one of the exciting elements of this competition, like the FIFA World Cup actually is that we're going to see, I think a lot of surprise results and a lot of entertaining performances and a lot more closer matches than a lot more people are expecting. And look, I think FIFA will sort out the broadcasting rights relatively soon. I think there is just so much for FIFA and a lot of these broadcasters to look out for in 2024 and for the early stages of 2025. But I think finding sponsors and broadcasting rights will be sorted out very soon. And look, I think there's always going to be complaints from the bigger European clubs and bosses about fatigue and that sort of thing like I've already mentioned. But look, it's going to happen and it'll be interesting to see what kind of sides and intensity that we see from the European clubs. But overall, I think it's going to be an exciting competition. And I think it will do, I think it's going to be good for FIFA because I think it will generate some interest from markets, maybe like in Oceana and the United States and Africa that may not necessarily be interested in some European leagues. But now that they're going to be seeing their teams against maybe some teams from Syria and the Bundesliga that don't necessarily have the same global reach of the Premier League and La Liga, for example, it might also boost future international viewership on European leagues. - Right, FIFA has the chance to encourage more fans to, especially local fans, to watch football with the introduction of this new tournament. And I think they are trying to promote football to the areas and regions where football wasn't traditionally watched as much as in Europe. - Like in the US. - Yeah, that's right. But I'm just afraid that when things go down to the stage like the last eight or the last four, all we're going to see is another Champions League when the top European teams face each other. I'm not saying it would look boring because with the city, Inter Milan, Bayern, facing each other, it won't. But if there's no difference than the European League, how can people tell it's the club of World Cup? And we have to acknowledge the situation that the gap between the participating teams from different continents in terms of funds, in terms of financial investment, youth academy, and other resources is just huge. And some of the participating teams, let's take a look at them, you know, financially. In our last proper comparison, it's like putting a table tennis Olympic champion together with the school kids in a serious tournament. Their levels are just huge in terms of gaps. But at the end of the day, it's still football we are talking about. It's a sport full of miracles, so many miracles in the past. So if something like school kid beating the Olympic champion can happen at the club of World Cup, it would be a huge success. It might happen if we don't know. However, the club of World Cup, initiated by FIFA, has met some resistance from different parties since FIFA launched on this new project. The European Professional Football Association and some clubs, including Real Madrid, have expressed opposition to this idea. They said the extra games would, you know, pose great threat to the player's health, both mentally and physically. Well, FIFA argued that the new club of World Cup will place the old Federation Cup. So it won't be much of extra pressure for the players in terms of the games they need to play. And the club of World Cup games only take up 1% or even 2% of the total games a player need to deal with in one calendar year. So FIFA said it won't be much of a problem. But Tianyu, why do you think FIFA has insisted on this project despite obstacles from different parties? Well, for me, I think money is totally in the equation. Of course, as more games are definitely going to bring more and take itself. Money is the only thing in the equation that's behind us. I think that's all that FIFA cares about right now. And any organization in football is, they want that painter, they want the money. The revenue, the sponsorship deals, the ticket sales. And also another reason that might explain that is, I think FIFA is trying to rekindle the enthusiasm from a lot of the football fans that have kind of lost their interest in sports. You know, after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonel Messi from the European football, I don't think we have witnessed another rising star that can really compare to either of them. And two of the bats, footballers, Cleo Mbappe and Erling Holland. I don't think Erling Holland will be very happy to hear those comments. I think, from my point of view, I think they're nowhere as the height Ronaldo and Messi had reached in their age, I would say. Yeah. And what has come along with that is that we tend to see the fact that the games are getting increasingly boring, I would say. The players are getting more and more similar because they are required by their coaches to just give more passes and avoid dribbling the ball too much. And yeah, just pass the ball as much as possible. This is Pep Guardiola's fault. Yeah. This is, I blame Pep Guardiola for the nonsense. There's too many tactics in football, there's too many structures. T.I.U. is so right. There's so much less room for expression these days and for individuals to go out there and actually do their thing like Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar used to do. And as a United fan, I'm happy to say this. This is Pep Guardiola's fault. Yeah, we don't get to see the magical movements, the burst of genius on the pitch, like we used to see, like what Rinaldinho Zidane did in the past. So I think a lot of people are getting sick of the mundane game routine now. So incentivizing the fans to want to engage in this sport, to engage with the games has become a major task for FIFA. And I think they thought filling in more tournaments and games for the fans might be a way out. OK, I know FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently said he pushed forward to this idea of the new club World Cup because he wanted to push forward the promotion of football to the global scale. By the way, he came to China recently for collaboration opportunities, basically sponsorship for the club World Cup, even though there are no Chinese teams participating in that tournament. But to my understanding, what FIFA is trying to do is to create some equality in football. The best teams can compete together with the less influential teams around the world. Quite opposite of the so-called Super League initiated by European powerhouses. That breakaway project just focuses on elite football. They just reject grassroots participation in top-level games. So in that case, we won't be able to see some cases like Leicester winning the top-flight title again in the future. So in this sense, I'm quite pro FIFA. But meantime, we can't ignore the impact of the, like Brandon said, pack the schedule on chaos. So it's quite a dilemma, what do you think, Brandon? It's a tricky thing, you know, because when you also look at, you know, in the US, for example, the most enjoyed and, you know, highly watched leagues in the US are the most competitive leagues where there isn't any equality whatsoever. So if you look at the NFL, the NBA, the MLB, for example, you've got these massive teams worth billions of dollars paying their players millions of dollars to all compete against each other. And I mean, where's the equality there? So I don't know if trying to make football an equal playing field globally is the right way to increase people's, you know, viewership of football. And if they do want to create some sort of equality, then why is FIFA insisting that these giant clubs bring their best players and, you know, stronger squads? Do you compete against teams, you know, that are nowhere near the strength, you know, in terms of players or financially compared to themselves? So, you know, I kind of understand the idea of trying to create global interest in football on an annual level, not just every four years with the FIFA World Cup, which I think is a Herculean task for, you know, FIFA to try and arrange, because, I mean, look, football, I think, is still the most popular and globally watched sports in the world. And I don't know why something like the Champions League and, you know, the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, I don't know why that's not enough for FIFA and for UEFA in terms of, you know, interest in football year round, because I think, you know, that still generates a lot of interest, maybe not in the U.S. markets, but, you know, in other markets in Europe and, you know, Africa and other parts of the world, they're not having any problems there. So, I guess they're trying to get other markets involved in football. And, look, I think this new format of the club World Cup is an interesting start, but I think insisting that bigger clubs bring their strongest squads and, you know, their top-top players to play, I don't think that's the right move. I think that they should just allow all the clubs participating to do what they want to do to still take it seriously. I think each club still should, you know, take this competition as seriously as possible. Look, I think it's going to be interesting to see how much international interest there is going to be in this competition, but in terms of generating a global interest in football on an annual basis, I don't know if this is going to be the answer to that question, but I think it is a good move from FIFA to try and answer that question, and I think this is a step in the right direction, not necessarily for European clubs and players, but for global interest in football. But, yeah, I think there's still a lot more that needs to be done to try and sort out the issues, like Tian Yu said, to just keep football as entertaining as possible, but beyond that, to try and reach a global audience, not just every four years with the World Cup or the European Championships, but to try and keep people around the world interested in football every single year. I think that's going to be a difficult task for international markets, particularly the US market, who are obviously predominantly interested in US sports. Yeah, it's a difficult task, but it's also an ongoing task. 31 of the 32 participating teams for the inaugural club World Cup are set. 12 from Europe, 6 from South America, 4 each from Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean region, and 1 from Oceania. Tian Yu, I don't know if I'm paper, and in terms of global fame, the European team is definitely the favourite, but do you think they would dominate the first edition of tournament next year, or clubs from other parts of the world with the suppliers? Well, yeah, I think, of course, the R's are in the favour of the European teams, as they are definitely the dominant force international football. They're kind of like the US in basketball. But if we take a look at the schedule of the World Cup club, it will take place at the end of the European season. So, yeah, after a packed season, the players from the powerhouses are going to be so burnt out that there will be a lot of injuries happening to these teams. Actually, we're already seeing this happening to a lot of the teams. Like Brendan mentioned, yeah, Real Madrid just lost three players in a single game in a La Liga match, and Man City has also been struggling with their forms due to the absence of a series of their key players. And it's just the beginning of the season. Yeah. And so, under these circumstances, I think the players will be playing the tournament at a low pace, and I don't think that even though, Brendan, you just mentioned that Infantino wants all the powerhouses to bring their best squads and all the players. But I don't think there will be a team going to push much for their players to play it at full gear. And I think there will be a lot of teams actually choosing to field the youngsters and reserves. So, yeah, in that case, I think upsets are very likely to happen. I think Viva is still taking the viewership issue into consideration, because a lack of stars would definitely lead to a slash in viewership and broadcasting. It's a very tough balancing act, because, yeah, I think you want to keep competitiveness, but also you need something to drive fans to actually come and watch, and will outside markets, or even European markets, watch these games of the top stars on playing. I'm not so sure. So, look, it's very difficult for everyone involved when you think about it. Yeah, it's a dilemma. Yeah, I mean, European teams play in North America all the time in the summer, or sometimes in winter for friendlies. They test their squad. They give their youngsters opportunities to play in those friendly games. And I think the substitutes often increased for those matches. Sometimes even you can substitute 11 players half-time. Yeah, I don't know if that's the same case with the Club World Cup, but Brandon, if the European teams will send their best players their full squad, do you think there will be many upsets? I don't think there'll be many. I think there might be one or two, but yeah, I think even if I hate to say this, and no offense to these smaller teams or any of these nations that have teams participating, but if you've got Manchester City competing against some of these teams from Africa and South America and Asia, I mean, I think even Kevin DeBrena and Erling Farland, and players like that at 50%, these are the top footballers in the world. And I think they'll still have no problem getting to those semi-final and final stages. Yang Guang, you brought up an interesting point there. Maybe some of the rules from pre-season could be installed into the Speed for Club World Cup. Like you said, making 11 substitutions. I think that would also benefit some of the smaller teams. Because yeah, I mean, even though they have weaker squads, if you change 11 players half-time and you have a very energised team coming on, sometimes energy levels can outdo talent. Look, I think there needs to be room where superstars are seen. Like, for example, when I went to Miami and saw Macy play for into Miami for like two minutes, I mean, as a football fan, that was enough for me. You know, I didn't need to see him play 90 minutes, so that was enough to get my interest. So I think there needs to be a way for European clubs and FIFA to come to agreement to get star players involved and get them excited, but also at the same time, take into account their schedules and their fatigue levels and their mental health and give clubs the room to also manage their stars to make sure that they can also be at the highest level for as long as possible. So yeah, I think FIFA and the European clubs in particular are going to have a hard time managing, you know, keeping people interested and also protecting their star players. But if something like that is managed, then I think this could be the start of something that is exciting to watch every single year. But I think it's the early stages and there's still a lot of hurdles for FIFA and European clubs in particular to get over. I don't know if the European clubs will be upset by the smaller sites if they have the full squads because they don't play each other very often. You don't see Europa Red Diamonds against Real Madrid all the time. So perhaps they can cause some upset at the club World Cup. But something I surely believe that will happen is we will see some promising stars emerging from the last influential teams at the club World Cup, just like how Hamas Red Riggers came from nowhere and let world know him at the 2014 World Cup. So that's my biggest expectation at the club World Cup next summer in the United States. Yeah, I think this is an opportunity for a lot of less unknown players to make a name for themselves. I think it also could potentially be an opportunity for smaller teams to generate global interest in those teams and maybe make some revenue and also create some upset results. So I think those are probably going to be the most exciting elements. Obviously seeing star players is great, but I mean, I would love to see something like Mamalodi Sundance beating Manchester City 2-1 in the Sydney finals, like something like that. Right, in several months we will see the club World Cup in the United States taking place. And before that and during the competition there will definitely be a lot of stories and drama. With that we end this episode of Sideline Story. Thank you so much for joining us. Subscribe to Sideline Story wherever you listen to podcasts. For more information you can also check our website radio.cctn.com. See you next time! [BLANK_AUDIO]