FIFA has defended the progress of ticket sales for the Club World Cup after another low turnout for a group stage game on Tuesday evening.
Just 3,412 people attended the match in Orlando between Ulsan HD of South Korea and South African side Mamelodi Sundowns, after 22,317 watched Chelsea’s opening game against Los Angeles FC in Atlanta, in a stadium which can hold up to 71,000 people.
The competition has been controversial since its inception and has triggered legal action from domestic leagues and player unions against FIFA over what they see as a lack of consultation by the global governing body over fixture decisions.
There have been some big crowds – with more than 80,000 people watching Paris St Germain’s victory over Atletico Madrid in Pasadena – and FIFA said on Tuesday that close to 1.5 million tickets had so far been sold.
FIFA said 340,000 fans had attended the first eight matches, which it said was a “powerful demonstration of club football’s global appeal”. It said four of the five top-selling group stage matches were still to come.
The countdown is on for the Club World Cup, but does anyone care?
Manchester City make their tournament bow against Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca this evening.
The prize money on offer is huge, with the winners set to earn almost €117m if they win it.
Despite that, former City defender Danny Mills described the competition as “pointless”.
“I don’t get it and I don’t understand what kudos it brings.
“It might be a nice day out for the minnows like Auckland City FC, but for players from the top clubs, like Paris St Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester City, at the end of their careers, they are not going to care if they won the Club World Cup or not.
“It’s a made-up competition for FIFA to make money, it’s as simple as that. There is no prestige in winning the competition whatsoever.
“I don’t really know if many people are watching it but there doesn’t seem to be much interest in the matches at all. It’s an unnecessary tournament.”
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