Germany seeks abolition of Confederation Cup to ease match calendar

German Football Federation (DFB) President Reinhard Grindel is in favour of abolishing the Confederation Cup to ease the international calendar and believes the competition has "outlived itself".

"It would be a good signal for the top clubs in Europe, who justly warn against a heavy workload for their players to say: 'We eschew one competition.' There is no need for it anymore," Grindel told German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt on Tuesday, reports Efe.

Germany, as world champions, are one of the eight national teams that will play next year's Confederation Cup in Russia, along with the six confederation champions and the hosts Russia.

The DFB president also criticized FIFA for not taking on all the costs of the national teams attending the tournament between June 17 and July 2 in four Russian cities.

"We will make it clear next month during a visit to the FIFA general secretary that we expect FIFA to cover costs for our entire delegation," Grindel said.

According to Grindel, the refusal of FIFA to assume all costs takes away value from the competition as it is not good publicity.

--IANS

ajb/bg