The manager of one of the biggest clubs in Europe has now made the shock claim that his side will refuse to take part in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament Mamelodi Sundowns have qualified for.
The new 32-team format of the Club World Cup has drawn its fair share of critics, with some major organisations, such as FIFPRO (the International Federation of Professional Footballers), having slammed the planned introduction of yet more games for footballers.
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Many have voiced their concerns around player welfare, arguing that FIFA's primary interest is profit instead the health of the players.
As such, the Premier League and LALIGA recently threatened to boycott the next Club World Cup, with Real Madrid, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea potentially set to pull out of the tournament.
Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti has now all but confirmed that Los Blancos will not be honouring their spot at the showpiece, which is set to be held from 5 June to 13 July in 2025 in the United States.
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"FIFA can forget about it," the Italian tactician told Il Giornale on Monday.
"The club and the footballers won't participate in that tournament.
"One Real Madrid game is worth €20 million (R404 million), and FIFA wants to give us that sum for the entire tournament. No way.
"Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation."
According to Spanish news outlet AS, FC Barcelona could take Real's spot at the competition as the second-best team from Spain in the FIFA qualification rankings.
Financially, it is said this would be a huge boost for the Catalan giants as they could get a much-needed payout of up to $161 million (R3 billion).
Meanwhile, Sundowns are one of four CAF teams who have qualified for the competition, along with Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca and Esperance de Tunis.
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In the event that Real officially pull out of the Club World Cup, Masandawana could still face some other top European opposition including City, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, FC Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, and RB Salzburg.
UPDATE!
Ancelotti has since insisted that his words were misinterpreted, saying, per Fabrizio Romano: "In my interview with Il Giornale, my words about the FIFA Club World Cup have not been interpreted in the way I intended.
"Nothing could be further from my interest than rejecting the possibility of playing a tournament that I think can be a great opportunity to continue fighting for great titles with Real Madrid."
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