FIFA denied in a letter sent to the Association of World Leagues and the World Players’ Union (FIFPro) having “imposed” the international calendar, while the two organizations oppose the 2025 Club World Cup on the dates set by the highest authority. of world football.
In a letter sent on May 2 to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, of which AFP obtained a copy on Thursday, the World Leagues Association and FIFPro considered the competition calendar to be “above saturation” and urged the organization to modify the schedule of the Club World Cup, expanded to 32 teams and whose competition is scheduled for between June 15 and July 13, 2025 in the United States.
“We reject any suggestion or inference that FIFA ‘imposes the International Match Calendar (IMC) on the football community without adequate consultation, or to adapt it to its own ‘business strategy’,” responded the acting general secretary of the organization, Mattias Grafstorm, in a letter to which AFP had access.
“As the governing body of world football, we have the duty and responsibility to design and implement an international calendar that is of the greatest interest to world football, including, among others, the interests of confederations, national teams, leagues, clubs, players, and of course, fans. They will understand that this is a complicated and demanding balancing act, and it is not always possible to satisfy everyone”, added the director.
FIFA claims to have “carried out this exercise effectively and judiciously” and indicates that “any suggestion that it does not, or has not done so, is simply not supported by the facts”, highlighting that the issue of the international calendar was discussed on several occasions with the World Association of Football Leagues and FIFPro in 2021 and 2022.
“The strategic principles of the international calendar for 2025-2030 were approved by the FIFA Council on December 16, 2022 and, subsequently, the calendar itself was approved by the organization’s Council on March 14, 2023”, continues the federation, which invites the World Association of Leagues and FIFPro to resume “dialogue” with it.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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