FIFA put plans for lucrative new Club World Cup, Nations League on hold

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has delayed any decision over his plans for a lucrative new Club World Cup and global Nations League amid widespread opposition, instead setting up a taskforce to further look into the proposals.

Speaking at a press conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali, where the FIFA Council has been meeting, Infantino said the taskforce will present "concrete proposals" at a meeting in Miami next March.

The plans have been harshly criticised by opponents who say the international calendar is already overcrowded and have accused the FIFA president of using the projects to help win votes for re-election in June next year.

A source told AFP that Infantino stepped back from adopting the new competitions on Friday when UEFA delegates threatened to walk out of the meeting.

That is after the World Leagues Forum, a grouping of professional leagues, sent a letter to Infantino demanding that no final decision be taken in Kigali and lamenting the lack of any consultation. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has also been critical of the plans.

"I am happy to have contributed to peace in the world today if some were seeing it so dramatic," Infantino remarked.

"Everyone agrees the Club World Cup needs to be revamped, everyone in the world.

"There are some who have different interests. We were not going to decide today how to revamp them, there are different options on the table.

"FIFA's duty is to organise competitions, so I don't understand why we cannot talk about them."
- 'No sovereign fund involved' -
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The source added: "UEFA are against these new competitions, because the Club World Cup would trim their share of the market from the Champions League, and by creating a global Nations League, FIFA would want to take over the commercialisation of the rights for all Nations Leagues."