By Christian Radnedge
LONDON (Reuters) – The president of Major League Soccer Don Garber says he recognises the concern over FIFA’s enlarged 32-team Club World Cup to be hosted in the United States next year after LaLiga chief Javier Tebas called for the tournament to be scrapped.
The new tournament from soccer’s world governing body, featuring 12 European clubs, will come after a season featuring an expanded UEFA Champions League and before an enlarged 48-team World Cup in 2026, hosted in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Top players have criticised the ever-increasing fixture schedule, with some talking of strike action. European Leagues, players’ union FIFPRO Europe and LaLiga jointly filed a complaint to EU antitrust regulators this week against FIFA’s international match calendar.
Tebas said in Brussels this week that FIFA’s new Club World Cup, which still does not have sponsorship or broadcast deals, should be cancelled.
Garber spoke of his excitement at the chance for MLS teams to compete against the rest of the world but that he understood why there may be concern about fixture congestion when asked about his response to Tebas’s declaration.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of energy and a lot of momentum around building interest in the sport of soccer leading up to the World Cup and the Club World Cup is going to be one of those events, and I’m excited that two of my teams are going to be participating,” Garber told reporters at The Summit, part of Leaders Week London.
“I will say, we all need to be mindful of the calendar, and I understand Javier’s views,” he added.
“I think we’ve got to all work to see whether or not we can be a more engaged part of the decision making process, and I would include that in the Club World Cup. We as a league are as mindful as everybody else about the toll on our players and all the various competitions they have to compete in.”
The 2025 Club World Cup, due to run from June 15-July 13, will be held around the same time as CONCACAF’s Gold Cup, to be hosted on the Western Coast of the U.S. and Canada. The MLS season is set to resume after that as well as European leagues.
Garber warned there could be danger of over-saturation in soccer but that the recent lawsuit in Europe could actually be a pathway to a more palatable global calendar and greater collaboration between governing bodies and leagues.
“I read about the lawsuits just the other day, but sometimes it takes a little disruption to get everybody to sit at the same table and make the right decisions,” the 67-year-old said.
“I would hope that you make those right decisions, because you’re basing those decisions on data, fact and research and strategy, but if not, sometimes you have to be forced to make those decisions.”
(Reporting by Christian Radnedge, editing by Ed Osmond)
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