FIFA’s New Club Tournament at Risk After Apple Talks Stall

(Bloomberg) — FIFA’s new Club World Cup tournament has hit another stumbling block, with clubs pushing back against lower financial incentives and an ongoing struggle to find a broadcaster, people with knowledge of the matter said. 

The new competition, set to be played in the US next summer to create some buzz ahead of the 2026 World Cup, will see 32 clubs from all over the globe compete in a World Cup-style tournament. 

FIFA was in talks with Apple Inc. for worldwide television rights earlier this year, which would help pay fees to participating teams, the people said. However the discussions have stalled, with FIFA now considering selling the rights to the tournament to regional broadcasters, the people added, asking not to be named discussing private information. 

The New York Times first reported the value of the Apple deal might be about $1 billion, a quarter of the value FIFA was initially targeting. 

Since then, some clubs have been contacted by FIFA to assess whether they would play for a lower fee than previously hoped, according to the people. 

A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment. A representative for FIFA said there are “many” parties interested in media and commercial partnerships, and it’s working daily to maximize the opportunity for everyone involved. 

“FIFA is fully confident and convinced of the commercial and sporting success of the new competition,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “FIFA is in regular and productive dialogue with the key counterparties involved including prospective venues, media and commercial partners, and of course the clubs themselves.” 

FIFA President Gianni Infantino initially planned to launch the tournament in 2021 in China, but the project stalled because of the pandemic and a drop in interest in the sport in host country. 

According to FIFA, 29 of the 32 places available for the tournament have now been filled, with some of the biggest teams in Europe such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain FC, and Manchester City set to face opposition from teams around the world including Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal SFC. In all, there are 12 teams from Europe, six from South America and then representatives from the rest of the world, including four teams each from Africa and Asia.

The tournament has also been criticized by the player unions who say that it will put the world’s elite footballers under too much physical strain. Their view was backed by Manchester United’s co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, who said in a Bloomberg interview that there was a real danger of “overloading” footballers with too many high level matches.

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