Real Madrid’s head coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has announced that the club will likely not participate in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
Speaking to Il Giornale, Ancelotti emphasised the club’s stance, highlighting financial and scheduling concerns as crucial factors behind the decision.
“Real Madrid will NOT go to the FIFA Club World Cup. We will reject the invitation like other clubs,” Ancelotti declared.
The decision is rooted in the club’s evaluation of the financial rewards versus the demands of the tournament. Ancelotti pointed out the stark disparity between the revenue generated from their usual matches and the compensation offered for the entire competition.
“Just one single Real Madrid match is worth €20 million, and they want to give us that money for the whole competition… no way. Negative,” he stated, underscoring the financial impracticality of participating in the FIFA Club World Cup under the current terms.
Having won their 15th Champions League title this season with a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the final, Real Madrid will participate in the next Club World Cup, which will take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025.
However, their participation is currently uncertain. Despite automatically qualifying for the event as the reigning Champions League winner, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid expressed significant discontent with FIFA due to the new format introduced by the international body.
The traditional format of the Club World Cup includes the winners of various international competitions from each continent.
However, FIFA has revamped the tournament to feature 32 teams, mirroring the format of the traditional World Cup for national teams.
This new setup includes 12 European teams, composed of recent Champions League winners and the highest-ranked clubs in the UEFA standings over the past four years, with Paris Saint-Germain leading the list.
🚨 Carlo Ancelotti: “Real Madrid will NOT go to the FIFA World Club, we will reject the invitation like other clubs”.
“Just one single Real Madrid match is worth €20m and they want to give us that money for the whole competition… no way. Negative”, told Il Giornale. pic.twitter.com/MaOELzETF5
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 10, 2024