The new top-flight season kicks off on Friday, fewer than five weeks after the competition.
Richard Masters wants an input into Club World Cup planning (Steven Paston/PA)open image in gallery
Richard Masters wants an input into Club World Cup planning (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)
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Premier League chief executive Richard Masters called for domestic governing bodies to be involved in discussions on the future of the revamped Club World Cup as he criticised FIFA’s lack of consultation.
The new top-flight season kicks off on Friday – fewer than five weeks since Chelsea defeated Paris St Germain in the final of FIFA’s expanded 32-team tournament in the United States.
Manchester City, who lost in the round of 16 to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, were the other English team to take part.
With player welfare relating to the number of matches played during a season a major ongoing talking point, Masters concedes the true impact of the world governing body’s new-look competition will only be determined during the forthcoming campaign.
“The Club World Cup in its current form – once every four years, 32 teams – has only just come in and I suppose the jury is out on how successful it’s been,” he said.
“The leagues and the players have not been consulted at all on the timing, the scheduling of the competition.
“Whatever iteration of it may come next, we do need to be consulted on that because obviously it does have an impact on the scheduling of the Premier League season – that much is clear.
“We’re asking for a seat at the table, for proper discussion for the leagues – not just for the Premier League but for all domestic competitions – when you’re scheduling new competitions.”
FIFA was initially founded to regulate the global game and run international football.
Earlier this summer, England manager Thomas Tuchel said the involvement of City and Chelsea in this summer’s Club World Cup would hand the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal a “huge advantage” in the title race.
Masters believes there is greater appetite for the competition, which previously involved six to eight clubs and was staged during the Premier League season, among non-European sides.
“The actual impact of it, we’ll have to wait and see,” he said
“I don’t ever want to be in a situation where players or managers are having to make choices about which competitions people play in, because I think that will be the wrong direction to take the game.
“Obviously, FIFA was put on Earth really to regulate the global game and to run international football, and the Club World Cup is a move into club football.
“It has its detractors in Europe but the wider world feels more comfortable with this concept because of its redistributive nature.
“My job is to work out whether it impacts competitions, in particular the Premier League, because I don’t want to see our future altered by new competition in a way that we can’t manage.
“There has to be evolution, there has to be change, there has to be more opportunity but it must be done in the way where all stakeholders have a view.”