a day ago
Make no mistake, Fifa knows exactly what their beliefs are
Sport is littered with the skeletons of competitions which initially seemed to fall into the category of bread and circuses but which presaged significant change to the future of the games they promoted.
You would need to be in your late 60s now to maintain a working memory of Jack Kramer and his collection of tennis all stars who played around the world in the days when only amateurs could compete for the blue riband titles such as Wimbledon, and the American, French and Australian Opens.
Kramer, who was considered the world's leading player between 1946 and 1953, established an elite, 'have racket will travel', cadre who would appear anywhere for a percentage of gate receipts. His stable included luminaries such as Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Pancho Gonzales and, in acknowledgement of the increasing popularity of women players, crowd pleasers like 'Gorgeous Gussy' Moran.
It was the impact of Kramer that persuaded Wimbledon to go open in 1968, ushering in the era of professional tennis, leading Time magazine to describe it as 'The sport that Jack built.' Ironically it was Kramer's refusal to acknowledge the wage claims of his female stars, lead by Billie Jean King, that led to the Virginia Slims tournament and the burgeoning rewards available to the women's game.
Cricket was revolutionised by Kerry Packer and his World Series in 1977 which was preceded by a famous meeting with the Australian Cricket Board at which the tycoon supposedly asked: 'There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentleman. What is your price?'
Rugby, tired of years of 'shamateurism' and led, once again, by the Southern hemisphere, became professional in 1995. GAA remains an outlier.
No sport provides greater tribute to modern Babylon than soccer. There have been several efforts to establish its primacy in the United States, gathering pace in the late 1960s through the era of the New York Cosmos (Pele, Beckenbauer, ) and stimulated by strong attendances at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1994 World Cup. While it is increasingly popular among younger people and the growing Latino population the bedrock of mainstream support still resides in baseball, basketball and American football.
But over the next two years the US is the battleground for world domination between the Gog and Magog of the international game. It is on territory chosen by the ruling authority Fifa — the 2026 World Cup and the new, expanded, ¢870m Club World Cup which starts on Saturday and features 32 teams.
Their target is Uefa, the parent body of European football, and their lucrative prestige tournament, the Champions League, which has a status and wealth which is coveted in Zurich.
Fifa have committed to a consultation on expanding the Club World Cup to 48 teams before its next scheduled appearance four years from now after lobbying from clubs, including Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and AC Milan who failed to qualify for the t0urnament based on their coefficients, or because of a two team cap on entries from each country.
The winner of this summer's CWC will pocket some ¢110m for seven matches in 28 days, around ¢30m less than PSG picked up for 17 games in a Champions League extending from September to May.
Fifa strongly believe in the future of the competition and the world's largest sports streaming platform, Dazn, are paying ¢870m for global TV rights. It is showing every game and Channel 5 will also be showing 23 matches. 10% of the investment comes from Saudi Arabia's SURJ Sports Investment and Fifa sponsors Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa are also involved. Qatar Airways is a major partner.
The winners of the Club World Cup will earn the right to wear a special gold badge on the front of their shirts for the next f0ur years. Of more significance is the impact on national leagues of additional money into the coffers of a limited number of teams.
Gaia's 1996 Europop banger Freed From Desire is the theme music chosen for the Club World Cup with not a hint of self-mockery.
'My love has got no money; he's got his strong beliefs' declares the opening line of the disco classic appropriated by football fans across the globe. For Fifa boss Gianni Infantino and his crew, we know exactly what those beliefs are.
Ten games to watch early doors: The opening match at 1am Irish time on Sunday features Egyptian champions Al Ahly against David Beckham's Inter Miami at the Hard Rock Stadium. Fifa were desperate to get The Herons, captained by Lionel Messi and including former Liverpool star Luis Suarez and Barcelona's Sergio Busquets on board for the tournament and applied a highly liberal interpretation of the qualifying rules. Inter Miami are managed by Javier Mascherano.
Sunday 8pm, PSG v Atlético Madrid, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles: An early examination of the credentials of Europe's new champions under Luis Enrique by the continent's second longest-serving manager, the formidable 'El Cholo', Diego Simeone. Some of PSG's stars, including the metronomic Portuguese midfielder Vitinha , and the electrifying Désiré Doué, have been away on Nations League duty. Team selection against a doughty opponent will be an early indication of how seriously clubs are taking the competition.
Sunday 11pm: Palmeiras v FC Porto, MetLife Stadium, New Jersey: South America makes its bow as the pride of São Paolo take on the Iberian finishing school of Porto. An item of interest would be an appearance by the €57m Chelsea-bound 18-year-old wing prodigy Estêvão who will be part of the Premier League squad at Stamford Bridge next season. Porto, who finished third in the Portuguese league behind Sporting and Benfica, are captained by the sweeper-keeper Diogo Costa whose penalty save against Spain's Alvaro Morata won the Nations League for his country.
Monday 8pm: Chelsea v LAFC, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta: BlueCo chairman Todd Boehly will be looking for a brisk start given his wide interests in the City of Angels. There may be early sightings of new centre forward Liam Delap and the young Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos after a successful loan at Strasbourg. Chelsea have also taken the latest addition to their cache of goalkeepers, 19-year-old Belgian Mike Penders from Genk. LA's forever young centre forward Oliver Giroud has a host of admirers at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge and the San Siro and set up the play-off winner which brought them into the competition. Former Spurs veteran Hugo Loris is their goalkeeper.
Monday 11pm: Boca Juniors v Benfica, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami: The club of Diego Maradona takes on the team of Eusebio in what could be a lively encounter between two sets of colourful and noisy fans in a city which is 70% Hispanic and Latino. Boca are captained by the nails-hard Uruguayan centre forward Edinson Cavani while Benfica have Argentineans Angel di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi in their ranks.
Tuesday 5pm: Fluminense v Dortmund, MetLife Stadium, New Jersey: The 40-year-old Brazilian centre half Thiago Silva is expected to start against the Germans who have added 19-year-old Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland to their squad and rejected two bids from Chelsea for winger Jamie Gittens ahead of the tournament.
Wednesday 2am: Monterrey v Internazionale, Rose Bowl Stadium, Los Angeles: The first chance to gauge how Inter have recovered from their Champions League humiliation under their new Romanian manager Christian Chivu who arrived after only 13 days in charge at Parma. Mexican serial champions Monterrey are led by the veteran Spanish centre half and iconic Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, 39.
Wednesday 5pm: Manchester City v Wydad, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia: Pep Guardiola's revamped squad includes Ryan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri as City attempt to put a lacklustre season behind them. Wydad from Casablanca will be one of the unknown quantities of the competition although they hold the record for Championships in Morocco.
Wednesday 8pm: Real Madrid v Al Hilal, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami: Madrid signed Trent Alexander-Arnold early specifically to play in this competition and also include Dean Huijsen, their €55m capture from Bournemouth in the squad. Al Hilal are the only Saudi Arabian side in the CWC and were making desperate attempts to sign N'golo Kante on a short-term loan for the duration of the competition. They field other familiar faces including Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Saturday 2am: Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami: This match will probably decide Group C and Vincent Kompany will be hoping that Michael Olise can provide enough bullets for Harry Kane to lift his second trophy. Don't expect Boca Juniors to go quietly. Could be a very robust game.
Round of 16: June 29-July 1; Quarter finals: July 4-5; Semi-finals: July 8-9.
Final: July 13.
*All games on DAZN
