FIFA’s determination to press on with plans for an expanded Club World Cup shows it only pretends to care about player welfare, Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango has said.
Football’s world governing body set out more detail about the 32-team, summer 2025 tournament following a meeting of its ruling Council in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Sunday.
The competition will begin on June 15 and run to July 13, but its scheduling and size has caused serious concerns amongst unions and leagues.
Molango said: “The decision to push ahead with yet another expanded summer tournament – adding more and more games to a fixture list that is already at bursting point – just confirms that any expression of concern for player welfare is merely a pretence.
“Ultimately, players have become pawns in a battle for primacy between football’s governing bodies, with no one willing to take a step back or to work collaboratively to create a sustainable calendar.
“These decisions have consequences – not just for players who are being pushed until they break, but for the future quality of these tournaments, with players becoming injured or withdrawing from games as they make their own decisions about how to manage what have become ridiculous demands.”
World players’ union FIFPRO remains concerned that a dedicated player welfare task force – which FIFA announced in March would be established – has not met yet and not even been assembled.
The PA news agency understands World Leagues Forum – a league umbrella organisation chaired by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters – has also written to FIFA following the publication of the latest Club World Cup details.
In the letter, signed by Masters in his WLF capacity, the group is understood to have set out how it believes FIFA is refusing to consider the interests of domestic competitions and continues to overload the calendar. WLF also argues that despite FIFA’s primary role being to regulate the sport, it is instead prioritising and giving preference to the promotion of its own competitions over existing ones run by other national leagues and associations.
The overlapping concern for unions and leagues is the impact it will have on players being able to rest between seasons.
FIFPRO has told FIFA in its latest policy paper that players should have a mandatory minimum off-season break of 28 days, excluding a period of pre-season training before returning to match action.
With FIFA confirming the tournament is due to run until July 13, if the 2025-26 Premier League season started on August 9 it would mean an interval of only 27 days for any players involved in the final. A team reaching the final would need to play seven matches, with FIFA confirming the format would mirror that of the 32-team Qatar World Cup barring the absence of a third-place play-off.
FIFA argues that the Club World Cup is not an addition to the calendar, and that it merely replaces the Confederations Cup.
FIFA confirmed Europe’s eight places in the 2025 tournament – besides those reserved for the 2021 to 2024 Champions League winners – would go to the teams with the best UEFA coefficient ranking based on performance in the Champions League.
Only two teams will be permitted per country, unless that country has more than two Champions League winners. With Manchester City and Chelsea already qualified, the only way the Premier League could have a further representative would be if Arsenal won this season’s Champions League.
FIFA confirmed Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Inter Milan, Porto and Benfica had already secured places in the tournament via the coefficient pathway.
FIFA also confirmed a new Intercontinental Cup would start next year. The winners of the Champions League will play the continental champion team which emerges from the earlier rounds in the final at a neutral venue on December 18, 2024.
Salah's contract 'up to him and the club', says Slot
Arne Slot has asserted Mohamed Salah’s future is “up to him and the club”.
The Liverpool star has yet to make a decision on whether to renew his contract, and as it stands, will be leaving Anfield at the end of the season.
Salah remains a key player for the Reds, and leads the club for Premier League goals (seven) and assists (five) this term.
He scored the winner in the 72nd minute to complete Liverpool’s comeback against Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday, as they moved to the top of the table.
And despite the question marks over Salah's future, Slot is not concerned.
"[His future] is not what I think about. The only thing I think about is he is so important for us. Scores important goals, works hard for the team," the Liverpool boss told TNT Sports.
"I’m hoping he can enjoy that feeling many, many, many more times. Especially if I’m here but also if I’m not here. I’m hoping he can do this many more times.
"He’s been incredible for Liverpool over the past eight years. He’s been incredible for us this season and I hope he can continue doing this for the rest of the season and maybe longer to come, but that’s up to him and the club to find the idea about the future."
Salah could be in for a historic night on Tuesday when Liverpool face Bayer Leverkusen, having scored in each of his last five Champions League appearances at Anfield.
The last player to score in six consecutive home games in the competition for an English club was Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United in April 2003.
Salah sparked renewed talk over his future after posting on Instagram on Sunday, saying that the feeling of scoring at Anfield would remain unforgettable “no matter what happens.”
But Slot was keen to quash any deeper meaning in the post.
"I haven’t spoken to him about that. You interpreted it in a way that maybe other people don’t," he told the press.
"I don’t look at Instagram posts of my players, I only talk to them which you can’t, which is the advantage I have.
"Mo is in a very good place at the moment. As long as he has been at Liverpool, he has been in a very good place, but this season again as well. I am hoping he will make a post after tomorrow and on Saturday again. What he said with that, that is not important.
"For me what is important is how he plays and what he tells me when we have conversations. That is what matters and not how you guys interpret one of his posts."
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final
Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.
The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.
Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.
"It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.
"It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.
"Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."
The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.
Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.
Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.
"To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.
"I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.
"It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."
Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.
The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.
After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.
"An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.
"We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.
"We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.
"It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."
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