Club World Cup ‘destroys’ club football competitions: La Liga president Javier Tebas 

La Liga president Javier Tebas called for the elimination of the expanded Club World Cup tournament. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY

David Lee

UPDATED Jun 24, 2025, 12:26 AM

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SINGAPORE – La Liga president Javier Tebas has kept up his criticism of the current Club World Cup, days after calling for the elimination of the expanded tournament which he claimed is “breaking the ecosystem” of club football.

Instead, he is not averse to the Fifa competition returning to its previous format as an annual competition – featuring just the winners of the six continental confederations and the host nation’s league champions.

The Club World Cup in the United States is a quadrennial event that was enlarged to feature 32 teams and played over a month-long period after the end of the season.

Tebas told The Straits Times on June 23 that if the Club World Cup remained, he would “be happier if we can go back to the old model”.

The 62-year-old Spaniard, who is in town for the La Liga Extratime conference, said via a translator: “I strongly believe the Club World Cup destroys all established models of club competitions.

“It mainly affects the national leagues, but it obviously affects the Champions League as well because it affects the calendar and the players.”

At a La Liga event in Madrid last week, when asked how Fifa could do a better job of structuring future Club World Cups, Tebas had said: “By eliminating it. My objective is that there will be no more Club World Cups, I’m very clear about that.”

On June 23, he noted that the new format led to a congested calendar and can impact the physical and mental well-being of players.

“There are 60,000 professional players in Europe, and these competitions are breaking the ecosystem for the rest of football. All the players involved in these extra matches will also be very tired at the end.”

As a fan of Real Madrid, he admitted it would be good for the club if they won the competition, but as La Liga president, his obligation is to look after all the clubs and their players.

In 2024, La Liga, together with the European Leagues and Fifpro Europe, filed a joint complaint about Fifa’s international match schedule to European Union antitrust regulators.

European Leagues is an association that includes the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1.

Fifpro is the global players’ union.

Tebas, who said the legal action is ongoing, said the scheduling of the Club World Cup “affects our broadcast rights because they force us to change the dates, and this produces a break of the audiovisual ecosystem”.

“There is no room for it. There is no need for another competition that moves money towards the same clubs and players.”

Tebas also took issue with how the Club World Cup can cause competitive imbalance and financial instability, with the winners set to take home up to US$125 million (S$162 million) while slamming Fifa for “listening, but then doing whatever they want”.

“This is not about consultation and being informed, because national leagues form the structure of football and there needs to be consensus for any decision that affects the players involved.”

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At the conference at The Executive Centre at One Raffles Quay, Tebas also warned about the destructive impact of audiovisual piracy, estimating that La Liga clubs suffer losses up to €700 million (S$1.04 billion) per season because of illegal streams.

He agreed with the assessment of Serie A chief executive officer Luigi de Siervo, who recently attributed Italy’s failure to qualify for the last two World Cups to online piracy.

The Italian had said: “All the money that is lost every year is not invested in the youth teams and in the growth of our young players, a major issue that has led our national team to face many difficulties.”

Tebas said: “The situation is different in different countries, but this is possible and we have to do what we can to stamp out online piracy.”

He also threw his weight behind Singaporean tycoon and Valencia owner Peter Lim, who has faced a steady stream of .

He said: “Peter Lim saved the team from bankruptcy. We have to remember the investments and capital he committed on several occasions, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, so I consider his impact and overall management to be very positive.

“I believe some fans think only about the results, and it’s not fair. They are very focused on the short term and these are probably only a sector of supporters and not all Valencia fans.

“I am concerned because I don’t know what is the real intention behind such abuse but I don’t think it will discourage foreign investors from La Liga.”

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