The Italian coach to Il Giornale: “One of our matches is worth 20 million, FIFA wants to give us that amount for the entire tournament”. No comment from the club, but it would be aligned with its manager. All the reasons for the clash
From our correspondent Filippo Maria Ricci
June 10, 2024 (changed at 12.45pm) – MADRID
Money. Much money. Squeezed and hungry football is looking for new income and if clubs have to play more matches they want them to at least be paid significantly. This is the basis that underlies Carlo Ancelotti’s statements to the Giornale in which the Real Madrid coach bluntly said that Casa Blanca will not participate in the new extra large Club World Cup (32 teams, one month of competition), scheduled for next summer in the United States. A sacrifice that Real Madrid wants to be very well rewarded.
the words
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“Fifa forgets it – said Carlo – footballers and clubs will not participate in that tournament. A single match for Real Madrid is worth 20 million and Fifa wants to give us that amount for the entire cup. Negative. Like us, other clubs will refuse the Invitation”. Madrid have not released any official statements, but it is clear that they support the coach’s words and that for the moment they have almost zero consideration for the new FIFA tournament. And after all, Carlo is not the type to let such strong declarations slip by chance.
the bernabeu
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Let’s say that a negotiation is underway between Madrid and FIFA which has a double front: the Club World Cup and the use of the Bernabeu for the 2023 World Cup. The national team World Cup, assigned to Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The Bernabeu is obviously one of the venues candidates to host the final, but Madrid don’t want to hand it over to FIFA for 3 months as requested by Zurich. After the renovation, the stadium in the Spanish capital is a money machine: series of concerts, events and so on, and we are only at the beginning of this commercialization. In 6 years the Bernabeu will invoice millions of euros, and it’s not like Florentino Perez can leave it to FIFA for 3 months without adequate compensation. The discussion on the Club World Cup fits into this scenario. Initially, when the tournament was launched, there was talk of 50 million euros per team, but Ancelotti mentioned a much lower figure: 20 million. The reality is that FIFA doesn’t know what to promise at the moment, because it hasn’t yet sold the TV rights to the competition, and it still has to close other commercial deals.
out of the echo
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To this scenario we must then add the null feeling between Florentino Perez and Nasser Al Khelaifi, president of PSG and Eca, the association of European clubs which is negotiating prize money for the teams of our continent with FIFA. Among the top European clubs there is a mixture of discontent and uncertainty regarding the prize money for the new Club World Cup. And Real Madrid is outside the Eca, and is therefore negotiating separately with FIFA its possible participation in the tournament American. Casa Blanca have not yet issued a definitive no to participation, but considering the timing of the competition and the physical effort it requires from the players, they want to make the most of any possible yes. Ancelotti’s words must be read from this perspective.
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