No TV interest, dismal ticket sales and furious bosses… ‘ridiculous’ Club World Cup is nothing but Fifa vanity project
FRANK by name and frank by nature, as Brentford boss Thomas Frank has got his Bees in the right bonnet.
His sting was aimed at the Club World Cup, which he described as “ridiculous”. And I agree with him.
Furious Frank said: “Who wants it? No one.
“The addition of the Club World Cup is ridiculous and there is a bigger conversation needed about the number of games being played over a year – but that is not for us and more for the teams in Europe.”
You sometimes feel Fifa is run by Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em’s Frank Spencer and this is further proof.
Frank criticised Fifa for hugely expanding a tournament for which there is little interest.
That’s not exactly true as the winner could bank £97MILLION for seven games, which does give the bean counters an incentive, if not the players.
The fact that it has been turned down by BBC, ITV, Sky Sports and TNT Sports suggests the TV execs aren’t that bothered either, even though Manchester City and Chelsea are in it.
But what Frank is angered by is simple – the players are bloody knackered.
Come the end of a gruelling Premier League season, often with European games in midweek, footballers have run themselves into the ground.
BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK
Like anyone else, they need a few weeks in the sun to relax and recover.
‘Ah’, I hear you shout, ‘but what about all those pre-season tours to the Far East?’
It’s a fair point, but these tours can get players back up to fitness.
As well as the Club World Cup, what is also a concern is the increasing gap between Champions League qualifying clubs and the rest.
For instance, if Chelsea or City both finish in the top five, that will now guarantee them Champions League football next season and around £150m.
If one of them wins the Club World Cup that all adds up to nearly £250m!
How are the other 15 Premier League clubs supposed to compete with that?
The Club World Cup strikes me as a vanity project for Fifa.
City boss Pep Guardiola is unhappy clubs must field their strongest squads in the 32-nation tournament, which starts in America in mid-June and lasts a whole month.
If Guardiola is cheesed off now, can you imagine his temper if Erling Haaland got injured in the big match against Morocco’s Wydad AC.
Frank insisted there is absolutely “no chance” he will even be watching it.
He’s not the only one, as by all accounts, ticket sales have been dismal.
No wonder the TV giants didn’t want to touch it as nothing stinks out a sporting event more than banks of empty seats.
Everyone has worked out there is no glory to it, only money.
The 24-carat gold-plated trophy was unveiled in the White House.
At the rate things are going there, Donald Trump might be melting it down to flog it soon.