Where will the 2023 Club World Cup be held?
FIFA’s message in recent years has been about sharing the Beautiful Game with all corners of the globe, but one region is getting a lot of attention.
FIFA has chosen Saudi Arabia to host the 2023 Club World Cup. This was announced by the body chaired by Gianni Infantino on Tuesday.
FIFA backing Saudi Arabia amid record profits
‘In relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2023, which is due to be played under the current format with seven clubs, the FIFA Council unanimously appointed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation as tournament hosts from 12 to 22 December 2023,’ the statement read.
The organisation also announced record breaking revenue.
#VIDEO: FIFA President Gianni Infantino visits Al-Bait Al-#Saudi (Saudi Home) zone in the Bahraini capital, #Manama, on the sidelines of the 33rd meeting of the general assembly of the Asian Football Confederation pic.twitter.com/crIiFZuWYc
— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) January 31, 2023
With this, Saudi Arabia take over from Morocco as the host of the Club World Cup, the north African nation watching over Real Madrid’s latest triumph, with Al Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, as it happens, as runners-up. This will be the first time that the Club World Cup has been played on Saudi soil after previous editions being held in Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Some people are spotting a trend.
Fans from every corner of the globe uniting in Morocco 🇲🇦
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) February 12, 2023
Thank you to everyone who was a part of the #ClubWC 🙌#FootballUnitesTheWorld pic.twitter.com/scZLKYB7oz
Following other tournaments being held in Saudi Arabia, and the controversial awarding of the FIFA World Cup to Qatar, ‘sportwashing’ is becoming a bigger and bigger trend in the game. And its governing body appears comfortable with it.
In unrelated news...
New details from FIFA accounts show Gianni Infantino's salary rose 20% last year to 3.6m Swiss francs (£3.2m/$3.9m) from 2.98m the previous year.
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) February 14, 2023
Coincides with the men's World Cup - FIFA's main source of revenue every 4 years
12 European clubs in the 2025 Club World Cup
As well as the revenue and 2023 host, FIFA also announced plans for future competitions, with an increased attendance.
‘Following the decision taken by the FIFA Council in December 2022 to expand the FIFA Club World Cup from 24 to 32 teams, with the first such edition set to take place in June-July 2025, the Council unanimously approved the respective slot allocation.
‘The decision was taken based on a set of objective metrics and criteria, and the resulting allocation is as follows: AFC: 4, CAF: 4, Concacaf: 4, CONMEBOL: 6, OFC: 1, UEFA: 12 and tournament host: 1.’