This is the one thing the former Fifa president Sepp Blatter admits he should not have done: create the Fifa Club World Cup. “It was a mistake,” he told the Swiss daily 24 heures last month. “Fifa must concern itself with national federations, not clubs.” Yet this “mistake” is a part of Blatter’s legacy that his successor, Gianni Infantino, had no hesitation to embrace.
As early as 2016 Infantino, nine months after his election, had proposed an expanded version to replace the old format, which, since 2005, had involved seven teams – the six continental champions plus a representative of the host country – every December, over a period of 10 days. “We need to make the Club World Cup more interesting for teams, and also for fans around the world,” he said. “That will attract more sponsors and television companies from around the world.”
