• Uefa opposed to potential threat to Champions League
The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has submitted a potentially explosive proposal for a lucrative, revamped Club World Cup, featuring top Premier League and European clubs and to be played every season. Uefa is understood to be fiercely opposed to the proposals, which will be considered by Fifa’s council meeting in Rwanda on Friday. European football’s governing body will regard any plan for an annual club tournament as a direct challenge to the Champions League.
Uefa and the European Club Association were highly critical of Fifa’s proposals earlier this year to reconfigure the Club World Cup. Speaking at the time, Infantino said he had investors, who were never identified, willing to pay $12bn for four tournaments every four years from 2021. The Japanese telecoms giant Softbank is widely reported to be backing the plan, although Fifa has not named any of the investors, citing a confidentiality agreement. The world governing body has consistently downplayed reports that a major portion of the money is coming from Saudi Arabia.
Written by Exclusive by David Conn
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/oct/23/fifa-president-gianni-infantino-submits-plan-for-annual-club-world-cup-uefa-champions-league under the title “Uefa to block plans for Fifa’s ‘cynical’ revamp of Club World Cup”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
