As Fifa put in final preparations for the big show to try and dazzle America, there is something increasingly being said behind closed doors. Figures within the federation openly talk about how the new Club World Cup will quickly move to a biannual tournament, rather than every four years. Despite sources telling the Independent that it is an “an open secret”, Uefa is adamant it will stay at four. They state they have an agreement. It is not, crucially, a legal agreement.
The difference in viewpoints is just the latest schism in a build-up that has caused more fractious football politics than any tournament in history. That goes right up to an actual legal challenge against Fifa from the players’ union FIFPro. Senior Uefa figures, including president Aleksander Ceferin, are said to barely be able to discuss the Club World Cup without spitting.
