Tebas demands Infantino withdraw the Club World Cup
The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, called on his counterpart at FIFA, Gianni Infantino, to withdraw the Club World Cup scheduled for 2025, arguing that "it is not necessary for the players, nor for the clubs, nor for FIFA, and all it does is cause disorganization."
"President of FIFA, you know you don't have the audiovisual rights sold for the budget you mentioned. You know you don't have the sponsorships as budgeted, and that the leagues and the players' union do not want this World Cup. Withdraw this World Cup now," he demanded.
During his speech at the Second Forum of the European Clubs Union held in Brussels, Tebas commented that if FIFA uses its funds for this competition, it will be "taking away from all those places where it claims to be helping," referring to more than 1.5 billion euros.
"Withdraw it, and let's sit down to negotiate. Dialoguing and negotiating are different; negotiation ends with an agreement, and dialogue ends with nothing. We have been dialoguing with FIFA for years. I am sure we will reach agreements. The goals that you have for the football world are also our goals. We are not selfish. This is not solved with a Club World Cup," he insisted.
Tebas also mentioned the rulings made over the past year by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and their influence on football governance, urging not to "lose that highway."
"I am calling for tomorrow with FIFPRO. We need to change the path of governance. Yesterday, we started a journey that must continue tomorrow. Let’s not fall into the trap they have always set for us. If we don't fall, success will be ours. The one who negotiates the collective agreement in the national leagues is the league and the unions; we need to transfer this to the international stage," he added.
Javier Tebas also confirmed that LaLiga will rejoin the European Leagues and, alongside them, filed a complaint with the European Commission against FIFA for abuse of a dominant position regarding the international calendar.
"We left 18 months ago, but we are coming back because yesterday we took the step of filing a complaint with FIFPRO that we have been requesting for years. This complaint aims to change the governance system of football in the world and in Europe. We could not continue with the same system, but we have been requesting it from LaLiga since I became president; it has taken them ten years to realize," he concluded.
