FIFA’s Club World Cup Is ‘completely absurd,’ Says Tebas

Javier Tebas isn’t holding back. The La Liga president just delivered his most explosive takedown yet of FIFA’s Club World Cup expansion, and it’s a masterclass in executive fury.

Speaking to Cadena Cope radio, the famously outspoken Spaniard called the entire tournament “completely absurd” – and that was just his opening salvo. the tournament kicks off this weekend.

“It is completely absurd, it’s not just about the physical wear and tear on the players, which is obvious, but the Club World Cup model affects the entire ecosystem of national leagues, especially in Europe,” Tebas declared.

The math is brutal for Spanish football. Fierce city rivals, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid – Spain’s representatives in the United States summer tournament – could potentially reach the July 13 final at MetLife Stadium. That leaves exactly one month to prepare for La Liga’s August 16 kickoff. One month to recover, reset, and compete at the highest level again.

It’s a scheduling nightmare that has Tebas seeing red.

“There is already controversy over when Real Madrid and Atlético will start LaLiga, which disrupts our usual football schedule and hurts us in the medium term,” he explained. “The decision on whether Real Madrid and Atlético will start [LaLiga] later [in order to rest] is not mine alone. It will be made in due course when we see where they stand. But it can’t be that we keep having to constantly change our schedule for other competitions that we are not in favour of.”

The consultation – or supposed lack thereof – particularly stings: “They haven’t consulted us about dates, they haven’t consulted us about anything. What they’re doing is damaging Spanish competition, if big teams like Real Madrid or Atlético can’t play on the first day of LaLiga,” said Tebas

Tebas isn’t alone in this fight. The resistance has been pretty much universal from football’s biggest names.

“I am not against new competitions, I am against the lack of time to recover year by year,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Jürgen Klopp, now Red Bull’s global soccer chief, went even further, calling the tournament “useless” as recently as January: “It means you have no summer break. Who wins the tournament, wow, is the poorest winner ever because you have to play through the whole summer.” (Note: Klopp said this before the $1 billion prize fund was announced).

Insideworldfootball.com