In a shock announcement made by Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid, the Spanish giants are seeking not to participate in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in 2025.
The tournament is scheduled to be a mega World Cup-like competition held from June 15th to July 13th, 2025. Thirty-two club teams from six confederations are slated to participate, but Real Madrid has no intentions of being one of those clubs.
The recently crowned UEFA Champions League winners, through their manager, stated that Real Madrid was not satisfied with what the club would be getting for participating in the tournament.
Is Real Madrid holding out of the Club World Cup?
Carlo Ancelotti stated to Giornale, “Real Madrid will NOT go to the FIFA World Club; we will reject the invitation like other clubs. Just one single Real Madrid match is worth €20m, and they want to give us that money for the whole competition… no way. Negative.”
While many pundits argue that Real Madrid’s intentions are to gain more money for just showing up to the competition, the tournament has come under fire from player unions who have stated that players are already on tight schedules and are overworked.
FIFA has yet to respond to the news that Real Madrid is seeking not to participate. As of right now, 29 of the 32 teams, including Real Madrid, have been confirmed for the competition, with the “host” team rumored to be Inter Miami of Major League Soccer.
