By Olaitan Ibrahim
FIFA president Gianni Infantino triumphantly declared the Club World Cup to be “the most successful club competition in the world” Saturday ahead of this weekend’s final between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
The first 32-team edition of the tournament faced criticism in the build-up for stretching demands on elite players and has been played out in baking temperatures in the United States that have raised concerns for the health of those involved.
There were also doubts about the level of interest the competition would generate among fans but Infantino said he was satisfied with the attendances at matches — despite many games being far from sold out — and claimed it had been a major success financially.
“The golden age of club football has started. We can definitely say this FIFA Club World Cup has been a huge success,” Infantino told reporters at Trump Tower on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, where FIFA has just opened an office.
“We heard that financially it would not work, that nobody is interested, but I can say we generated almost 2.1 billion dollars in revenues, for 63 matches,” he said.
“That makes an average of $33 million per match — no other club competition in the world comes close.
“It is already the most successful club competition in the world.”
Former Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has been one of the leading voices against the tournament, calling it “the worst idea ever implemented in football” in a recent interview.
But the head of world football’s governing body dismissed suggestions that Klopp might be speaking for most observers in Europe.
“We shouldn’t say that the opinion of Europe on this is very bad because it is not true,” said Infantino, who was appearing on a stage alongside numerous footballing greats including the Brazilian Ronaldo.
“All the teams who have come here have been happy — some teams who didn’t come here because they didn’t qualify were calling us to see how they could qualify.