Inauguration of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Photo: EFE – Cristobal Herrera -ulavich
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The president of LaLiga EA Sports, the first division of Spanish football, Javier Tebas, reiterated his opposition to the Club World Cup: “My goal is that there is no more,” he said in a meeting with the press this Tuesday in Madrid.
Asked about how FIFA could do to improve the tournament that is being played for the first time in the United States with the 32 best teams in the world (from June 14 to July 13), Thebes replied: “Eliminating it.”
“My goal is that there are no more club World Cups, there are no dates. No other competition is needed,” added the president. For Thebes, it is a matter of financial balance. “There is no more money in the world of audiovisual rights. What you have to do is keep the ecosystem and eliminate it. You have to maintain the sustainability of football,” he reiterated.
The new World Cup format started last Saturday with the meeting between Inter Miami and Ahly. In competition there are 32 teams of the six confederations that are part of FIFA. In total there will be 63 games and all have Dazn transmission.
“There is no way for dates, economy or maintaining the sustainability of football,” he insisted. “I am not seeing it. Yesterday (Monday) I saw a bit of Chelsea (against Los Angeles FC) and I thought it was a friendly summer, I did not see intensity in the 25 minutes I saw of the match,” criticized LaLiga's director.
Thebes also explained that the participation in the tournament of two Spanish teams, Real Madrid and Atlético, conditions the championship: if any of the two reaches the final – prevista for July 14 – would do it just one month before the start of a new season of the Spanish League.
“By collective agreement, there are three weeks of vacation (for the players) and LaLiga will comply with. We are going to see what happens,” said a Thebes that admitted that the two Madrid clubs have asked for a postponement of the first games of the championship, although the employer has not yet decided. “As far as I know, the Premier teams that are playing (the Club World Cup) will start on August 14; those of the Bundesliga too,” he complemented.
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