Erstwhile Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, believes the world soccer governing body FIFA, is headed towards the right direction with the enlarged format for the Club World Cup starting in 2025 in United States with 32 teams.
The FIFA Council at its recent meeting on the margins of the on-going Club World Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, made the key decision to upgrade the tournament to a four-yearly event with the now christening Mundial de Clubes FIFA to be fist staged between 15 June and 13 July 2025 in the United States.
Wenger who is FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development officer, said the new format has taken into cognizance the importance of both club and country, adding the new Club World Cup being put in place will be refreshingly different.
“I believe that the two main forces in our game are the nations and the clubs and there’s logic behind the thinking from clubs and FIFA to organise a Club World Cup that is similar in format to the nation’s World Cup. “ the French coach said in statement obtained today by The Nation. “The positive impact that this will have on clubs is going to be huge, because it will increase resources for clubs all over the world to develop and to compete.”
He added: “In Europe we are lucky, but it’s important that we make football really global and this creates a chance for other clubs to progress, this is the real target. It will give more opportunities to more players all over the world to compete at the highest level. I feel there is a huge expectation from football fans to see their clubs compete on the world stage.”
Amid criticisms that the enlarged Club World Cup would further dissipate energy of players groping in an already crowded football calendar, Wenger said the tournament has so many inherent positives since it’s going to be quadrennial like the FIFA World Cup for instance, adding that the welfare of players is sacrosanct.
He continued: “I accept that the football calendar is a busy one, but this is a competition that is going to take place every four years and of course the rest period during the competition and afterwards has to be respected. There is demand for big competitions in football, and there has been a good support for this one.
“The welfare of the players in the last 20 years has increased dramatically as well, when you look at injury prevention, recovery work, nutrition and advances in medical technology. It is unrecognisable from what it used to be.
“ Also VAR has helped with the protection of players, as players know they cannot escape from making bad tackles that cause injury. So overall there has been a huge improvements on the welfare side, and we want to continue with that progress.
“We see players receiving world awards, the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Benzema, all over the age of 35. And it is not unusual to see international careers lasting over 20 years. Not so long ago, that was not possible,” he added.
