Gianni Infantino is not happy. He does not admit it and shows it even less, displaying his facade of smile in all circumstances. But his actions speak for him. According to several sources, the FIFA president called a meeting of world football broadcasters at the end of last week. It was not scheduled.
The reason: the 2025 Club World Cup. Gianni Infantino has made it one of the priorities of his mandate. The Italian-Swiss leader has extended the format to 32 teams, compared to 24 in the previous formula. Its next edition, the first in this new version, is to be held from June 15 to July 13 in the United States.
The only problem, but a big one, is that the competition is not appealing to broadcasters. Less than a year before the deadline, FIFA has still not announced a broadcasting agreement for a tournament that Gianni Infantino is so keen to support, in the face of opposition – and threats of boycott – from the English and Spanish leagues.
FIFA's priority: finding a broadcaster in the United States, the host country of the 2025 edition. Discussions have been initiated with Apple TV, holder of the MLS (Major League Soccer) rights for ten years since 2022, for a very respectable amount of 2,5 billion dollars. But the American group left the negotiating table at the beginning of the year.
Since then, nothing. No white smoke has been visible above the headquarters of the body in Zurich. An impasse that led Gianni Infantino to roll up his sleeves and urgently summon the broadcasters to discuss the subject.
On paper, the product does not seem the easiest to sell. In its new format, the Club World Cup suffers from its size – 12 European teams, six South American, four Asian, African and North and Central American teams, one from Oceania – and especially from its positioning in the calendar.
Many clubs consider it useless, misplaced at the end of an already overloaded season. The players' unions have even threatened to take FIFA to court. They believe that its project endangers the health of the players.
Another concern: due to the lack of financial support from deep-pocketed broadcasters, FIFA has still not revealed the geography of the tournament and the revenues to be paid to the participating clubs. Less than nine months before the competition, the host cities are not yet known.
Conversely, it is a given that some of the heavyweights of world football – Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, AC Milan – will not be there. They are not qualified. An absence on the poster that does not encourage broadcasters to respond to FIFA's call, even if the body can assure them of the participation of Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG or even Bayern Munich.
For Gianni Infantino, the issue of broadcasting the 2025 Club World Cup is reminiscent of another. The leader had the same difficulties selling the Women's World Cup in 2023, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. He demanded a lot, probably too much.
A compromise was finally reached. But it is no longer a secret that FIFA has revised its prices downwards, convinced of the long-term interest for the development of women's football of its financial sacrifice. This time, the situation looks more delicate. Gianni Infantino will have to find other arguments to ensure the media success of a club competition that no one really seems to want in its new format, starting with the first interested parties.
